And here's my second contribution for the night. Once again, quoting myself (because I gave myself permission ), from:

http://www.cbn.org/y2k/insights.asp?file=990118n.htm

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Yes, Y2K Really Can Affect Water Systems; Here Are Two Examples (Including One From Senator Bennett)

http://www.sltrib.com/01181999/utah/75860.htm

http://www.canoe.ca/Year2000Crisis/jan13_warroom.html

(Salt Lake Tribune/Reuters-Canoe)

Some people just can't believe Y2K could really affect the water supply. But according to these two reports, it certainly can. Here's the lead from the Salt Lake Tribune story:

**Curious about what would happen when the new millennium ticks in, a water-purification plant in Utah set its clocks ahead to Jan. 1, 2000. With computers ill-equipped to handle the new date, the plant malfunctioned, dumping poisonous quantities of chlorine and other chemicals into the water.

**It is one story in an arsenal of anecdotes employed by Sen. Bob Bennett, who is preaching preparedness for the so-called ``Year 2000 Problem,'' also known as ``Y2K.''

**But is it a true story? Or is it another urban legend, a tall tale spun by Bennett, the self-proclaimed ``Paul Revere'' of Y2K?

**Bennett says the story is true. He recounted it during an address last month to the Colorado River Users Association in Las Vegas, but refused to name the Utah water treatment plant in question. ``I was sworn to secrecy,'' he said afterward.

The second story, from Reuters, deals with Canada's plans to set up a "war room" at year's end. It includes this:

**Citing possible problems, he described how one Canadian municipality was testing its water system for Year 2000 compliance and found that a subsystem started dumping in too many chemicals, causing a shutdown for a few hours.

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Drew Parkhill/CBN News

-- Drew Parkhill (y2k@cbn.org), January 18, 1999

Answers

'way early on...like last June, there was a post on GN about a water plant in either New Zealand or Australia with the same problem...That would have either been the mother of this urban legend, if it is one, or all the stories are true.

wouldn't it be a hoot if all this y2k stuff turned out to be an urban legend? And on 1/1/2000 all these home pages had big rasberries on them....nahhhhhhh!

Mary Phillips

-- Mary Phillips (blufrogg@garlic.com), January 18, 1999.

Drew,

Also check out this article from the Chicago Tribune about embedded systems, and the quote in it about water...

http://chicagotribune.com/version1/article/0,1575,SAV- 9901010066,00.html

"Anyone who says they are ahead of the game on embedded (chips) is lying," said Liz Fieweger, who is heading the City of Chicago's hunt for microchips that will stop working in 2000. "The whole world should have been doing this two years ago.

[also]

Ask Chicago's Y2K boss what single issue worries her most, and she'll answer in a snap.

"Water."

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 19, 1999.

Kevin,

Yes, I saw that one. I just posted these two largely because they both came out at the same time; two witnesses, as it were.

There was also another reference on the water subject of interest a while back. It was in Victor Porlier's column of Nov 25, 98, about government contingency planning. He wrote:

"Matthew Carey, Manager of the Pennsylvania Year 2000 Initiative, reported that overall they were 99 percent complete in mission critical systems...Pennsylvania's greatest concern is embedded technology. Mr. Carey fears that it may 'break our back.' Carey said that the State of Colorado has the best web site information on embedded technology. He added that he was 'real scared about water control valves.'"

The URL is:

http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/DSA/VP/vp9847.htm

Plus of course there've been a bunch of other reports.

-- Drew Parkhill (y2k@cbn.org), January 19, 1999.

The earlier story was supposed to have occurred in Coffs Harbour, on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia. I do not know if it is true or not. However, here in Queensland, Australia, we experienced generator breakdowns in THREE different power stations on the same day! This was within the last week... Sounds like Y2K glitches to me! A neighbour of mine has a close friend whose husband is a truck driver. He made a delivery about a week ago from around here to some place in Victoria, Australia. His truck couldn't unload because the computers were down; and trucks were backed up for miles.

-- David Harvey (vk2dmh@hotmail.com), January 19, 1999.

I've heard that Australia story from people who have relatives there, but I've never been able to confirm it.

-- Drew Parkhill/CBN News (y2k@cbn.org), January 19, 1999.