Company Press Release SOURCE: Detroit Water & Sewerage Department

City of Detroit Water & Sewerage Department Installs Diesel Generators for Standby Electric Power

DETROIT, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Detroit Water & Sewerage Department (DWSD) is completing the installation of 44 diesel generators to supply its service area additional health and safety protection in the event of a power outage, Kathleen Leavey, Deputy Director announced today.

``The loss of our ability to treat and distribute portable water because of a power outage could have grave effects on the system,'' Ms. Leavey explained. ``As for water, an interruption in pumping would create air pockets in the pipes that could permit pipeline contamination from groundwater,'' she pointed out. ``And,'' she added, ``sewage could back up into basements and surface waters. The consequences to the environment, our health and the machinery in our plants could be devastating.''

``These standby power generators are another nail in the coffin of the Y2K bug,'' James Heath, Assistant Director Water Supply Operations, announced proudly. ``The concerns surrounding Y2K computer glitches were additional incentives driving this implementation,'' Mr. Heath explained. Mr. Heath further stressed that in its history, DWSD has never had a system wide failure.

DWSD head engineer K.V. Ramachandran explained that the 44, two-megawatt generators running 500 hours per year, the recommended limit, would generate enough electricity for a residential community of 50,000 people. ``In the end this helps the department's bottom line and our customers. This will go a long way toward offsetting the cost of implementation,'' Mr. Ramachandran further stated.

DWSD operates a water and sewerage system throughout the region. The water system serves 126 communities, covers 1,000 square miles with 1.5 billion gallons pumping capacity of fresh water per day, operates five water treatment plants; owns 22 water pumping stations and maintains 3,650 miles of water mains. The sewerage system serves 78 communities, covers 858 square miles, pumps 1.2 billion gallons of sewerage per day, maintains 14 sewerage-pumping stations, oversees three combined sewer overflow retention basins, and maintains more than 3,500 miles of sewer lines.

SOURCE: Detroit Water & Sewerage Department

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/991121/mi_dwsd_di_1.html

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), November 22, 1999

Answers

Again we have the classic case of too little too late. It will only be a race to see which utility, Detroit Edison or The City of Detroit Water and Waste Department, goes down first. Detroit and suburban residents, who would you wager will go down first? I am thinking Detroit Water & Waste Management!

-- Ruth Edwards (REath29646@aol.com), November 22, 1999.

sleep well Deroit Metropolitan area. 50,000 of you are covered for an emergency and you might be in the lucky number! Sounds like better odds than the lottery.

-- Lumber Jack (johnsellis@webtv.net), November 22, 1999.

Why do they need to put a nail in the coffin of a bump in the road?

And speaking of bumps in the road, I used to live in the area (Dearborn & Grosse Pte. Park), and as I recall, the bumps in the road were ones to write home about.

Has anything changed in re Detroit's ability to deal with bumps in the road since I left?

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), November 22, 1999.