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[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Y2K study: Water supplies are vulnerable

By M.J. Zuckerman, USA TODAY - 12/10/99

Drinking water and sewage facilities are threatened by the looming Y2K computer glitch, according to a study by two watchdog agencies that blames government and industry with lax oversight.

"There are serious doubts that the 55,000 drinking water utilities and the 16,000 publicly owned wastewater facilities in the United States will be prepared for Y2K," the report by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Y2K & Society says.

The report is drawn from surveys conducted by groups such as the American Water Works Association, which found that no more than 40% of those responding had completed the first stage of Y2K upgrades by June. Further, the report notes, fewer than 15% of wastewater treatment facilities are prepared.

Although the study sparked debate among government and industry representatives, all agreed that every household should stockpile water -- a gallon of water per day per person to last a minimum of four days -- through the first few months of 2000.

"Clearly, many water systems are going to operate without problems," said Norman Dean, executive director of the Center for Y2K & Society. "However, our report indicates that some are likely to suffer Y2K-related problems."

With only three weeks remaining, water joins a short list of likely Y2K trouble spots, including 911 systems, schools, scattered power facilities and some medical and social service systems.

The report notes that low water pressure could interfere with firefighting, and Y2K interruptions could cut stockpiles of water treatment chemicals.

"We are very concerned about wastewater preparedness," said Don Meyer, spokesman for the Senate Y2K Committee. "However, we disagree that drinking water is in crisis."

Jon DeBoers of the American Water Works Association conceded that survey results were not entirely encouraging but said, "The vast majority of the water systems have tested most of their critical components and are confident that they are Y2K-ready."

He acknowledged that any prolonged power failure would create great difficulties for water and sewage stations.

The report blames the Environmental Protection Agency and President Clinton's Y2K Council for not responding aggressively after the surveys came out.

"My ultimate sense is that most of the large utilities are going to be prepared," said Chuck Fox, EPA deputy administrator for water. "If there's going to be (trouble), it would be with the smaller utilities."

URL: http://www.usatoday.com:80/life/cyber/tech/ctg864.htm

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This story is probably *new* news for a lot of Americans.

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-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), December 10, 1999

Answers

This story is probably *new* news for a lot of Americans.
yeah but its only Water - not Jerry Springer or Pro Wrestling, and it won't effect the Stock Market - so why worry ?

-- Dan G (thepcguru@hotmail.com), December 10, 1999.

Note the 4 day minimum here. 4 days without water and your DEAD.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), December 10, 1999.

Friday December 10, 3:58 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: American Water Works Association AWWA Water Utilities Fully Prepared for Y2K; Contingency Planning for Emergencies Nothing New for Water Suppliers DENVER, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Water Works Association (AWWA) today re-emphasized that its member utilities will provide safe, clean drinking water on January 1, 2000. AWWA's 4,200 utility members provide the nation with 67 percent of its tap water.

``Water utilities have long realized that their consumers must have access to safe drinking water, regardless of problems outside the water plant,'' said Jack Hoffbuhr, AWWA Executive Director. ``Unlike Y2K, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes and other natural disasters don't give a water utility notice of their arrival. That's why contingency planning has been a standing AWWA policy for over 25 years.''

``Water utilities have to be prepared for the kind of glitches and power outages that some forecast for Y2K on a daily basis. That's why over 90 percent of our members were fully Y2K compliant five months ago.'' added Hoffbuhr.

The President's Y2K Task Force, Special Congressional Y2K Committees and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have given all water utilities a clean bill of health for Y2K preparedness.

AWWA's policy, first adopted in 1973, issues clear guidelines on how its members should prepare for the possibility of power interruptions. The guidelines direct utilities to take the following steps:

-- Determine the probability of complete or partial loss of power.

-- Assess its ability to provide service despite the power outage.

-- Ensure standby power resources are available.

-- Purchase alternative power from a separate supply source if necessary.

``Possible glitches due to Y2K are no different than those our members have had to overcome for years,'' added Hoffbuhr. ``If those problems should arise on January 1, water utilities will be ready, just like they always are.''

The American Water Works Association and its 56,000 members work to assure a safe, sufficient supply of drinking water for the people of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The group leads efforts to advance the science, technology, consumer awareness, management, conservation, and government policies related to drinking water. For additional information please contact Doug Marsano at (303) 347-6138, or visit our Web site at www.awwa.org.

SOURCE: American Water Works Association

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/991210/co_awwa_wa_1.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 10, 1999.

$ days till the Red Cross calvary arrives. Today they played recruitment commercials here in Virginia, asking for volunteers to step forward to volunteer for the red cross. What position do you think these volunteers will be in, short and longterm? Just wondering.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 10, 1999.

Just seen on local NBC news affiliate in Charleston SC that our water department will NOT be compliant on the rollover. Not to worry though, they are going to set the computers to 1991 and all will be well. The goober that was identified as the manager of the water works said, "Don't waste money buying water" The vacant looking news bimbo, on the other hand, did say to stock up for 10 days at a gallon per day per person.

This blistering investigative report was apparently made as a result of a CNN report earlier today.

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), December 10, 1999.

The article was not posted on CNN. It was buried at USATOPAY

The following is what I wrote to USDTOPAY

The water you drink, bath in, cook your food in ... is at risk.

The prime ingredient of pharmaceuticals, blood serum, coffee, beer, etc. etc. etc. and the story that our nation's water supply is at risk is buried on the Tech page.

You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are afraid of upsetting the market and damaging your own private portfolio.

****************************************** The following is the only reference to the possible water shortage story ----

'Buyer beware' also applies to Web Simple steps can help shoppers skirt nasty surprises. Also: Y2K study says water supplies are vulnerable, candidates eye matching funds for e-checks, and Infoseek exec's trial continues.

Plus, explore our daily e-world features and our audio update.

Click here

-- Peter Starr (startrak@northcoast.com), December 10, 1999.

AWWA says (above): ``Water utilities have to be prepared for the kind of glitches and power outages that some forecast for Y2K on a daily basis. That's why over 90 percent of our members were fully Y2K compliant five months ago.'' added Hoffbuhr.

Read the report at http://www.y2kcenter.org/resources/centerpubs/

Look at the industry's own chart on p. 23 of the report. This is directly from their survey. Do you see over 90% compliance or less than 50%?!?! (hint: less than 50%). Read the survey report on AWWA's website at http://www.awwa.org/y2k07.htm for further proof:

"However, only a very few systems are 100 % Y2K compliant at this time. Figure 2 shows those utilities that are 100 % complete with all steps of their Y2K Preparedness Program, by utility size. When looking at the last steps, testing and contingency planning, only 40- 50% are 100 percent ready at this time. The encouraging finding is those utilities that are not 100 percent compliant at this time are only a few steps behind, and have tested most of their systems."

The fact is that we have no idea whether the industry is ready or not and the public should take adequate precautions.

The report explains how the industry's June report was MISINTERPRETED by the Senate Committee and the President's council, leading to an overly- rosy view of the drinking water industry's readiness.

A follow-up survey by AMWA (Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies) in September was of little use because it consisted of only two questions and failed to ask utilities if they had completed the final, most critical, and often longest phases: TESTING & IMPLEMENTATION. Of course, none of the surveys asked about IV&V.

NRWA's (National Rural Water Assn) survey hasn't even been released yet!

-- d (d@d.com), December 10, 1999.

Top story on CNN for the past couple of hours. They are saying to stockpile a gallon per person per day for the first couple of months of 2000. Will the sheeple stir, finally?? Could start to get interesting.......spinnnnnnnnnnnnnnn this....

-- Bill (bill@tinfoil.com), December 10, 1999.

Which is why there is about 250 gal in drums and about 40 more going into hasty containers over the next 2 weeks, AND why I went to www.pwgazette.com/ and ordered their Doulton filter candles and the siphon system plus their style C carbon filter addition.

C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 11, 1999.

I encourage everyone to print out and read the entire 44-page document. Clic k here for the .pdf file.

Lots of info here. I will post what I think are the most important excerpts, but I urge everyone to read the full report. [My apologies if it doesn't format properly]:

Page 20:

V. HOW Y2K-READY IS THE WATER INDUSTRY? A. The water industry provides little reliable data to support its belief that consumers should have confidence. Generally, water industry representatives broadly reassure the public that they should not be concerned because the industry is on top of the problem. The American Metropolitan Water Association (AMWA) stated  based on a survey containing only two questions  that AMWA believes that the consumers served by metropolitan drinking water agencies should have confidence in them. 35 As explained below, however, most industry surveys have had low response rates and in some ways discouraging answers, or were so superficial and undocumented that their findings are difficult to rely upon. To make matters worse, the largest industry survey by the American Water Works Association has been widely misinterpreted, leading to an inflated view of the industrys readiness. 1. DRINKING WATER UTILITIES a. Few utilities have responded to detailed surveys by industry representatives. According to the GAO, there are approximately 55,000 drinking water utilities in the U. S., of these about 3,300 large and very large facilities serve the majority of the population. 36 In 1998, the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) and the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) surveyed 3,500 water utilities to find out their Y2K readiness status. Only 725 responded (21 percent). In June 1999, the AWWA, AMWA and NAWC re-surveyed their membership for Y2K updates. This time 614 (17.5 percent) responded  only 477 (14 percent) were valid responses, the rest were either letter responses or incomplete/spoiled responses. This means that the public is asked to take reassurance about the preparedness of the drinking water industry based in large measure upon an admittedly non-random, non-scientific self-survey of less than one percent of the approximately 55,000 community water systems in the nation. According to the Presidents Council on Y2Ks most recent report, final data [from the above survey] is expected this fall. 37 However, no formal data has yet been released. Likewise, the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) announced in September that it was conducting a survey of its membership; however, the survey results have not yet been released. NRWA did not respond to our requests for information about the survey.

[Footnotes:]

35 9/13/1999 letter from AMWA to Senators Bennett and Dodd. 36 GAO Report, April, 1999, supra. 37 Fourth Summary of Assessment Information, Presidents Council on Y2K Conversion at www.y2k.gov/new/4thquarterly.html.

[Page 21]:

The AMWA briefly re-surveyed its 135 members in September 1999 with a better response rate: 118 utilities (87 percent) responded, with those utilities serving nearly 100 million Americans. 38 However, as noted below, the survey is of limited value because it consisted only of two questions, it did not ask if the utilities had finished testing/implementing their systems for Y2K compliance, and because no supporting documentation or data is available. Apparently, of the approximately 55,000 community drinking water utilities in the U.S., less than one percent have responded to an industry survey this year, and these studies have not been designed to produce statistically significant results. Hopefully, more have responded to local inquiries about their readiness status. However, at this time, there is little comprehensive national data available showing the industrys overall readiness. Furthermore, we do not know if those responding are representative of the industry as a whole  even AWWA cautions that the responses [from the 1998 survey] may be biased in favor of facilities that are better prepared for the Year 2000. 39 We simply do not have enough information to answer the question of how prepared the nations drinking water utilities are. b. Industry reports establish that we know little about Y2K-readiness in the water industry  Surveys by AWWA, AMWA and NAWC Approximately 14 percent of those responding to AWWA, AMWA and NAWCs 1998 survey did not expect to complete their Y2K preparations on time. The 1999 survey asked respondents for estimated completion dates of various elements of their Y2K programs; however, these responses were omitted from the survey report. Furthermore, AWWA did not respond to our request for this data. Additionally, 20 percent of the respondents to the 1998 survey said they needed help addressing their Y2K problems. We do not know how many received such help, however, and this question was not repeated on the industrys 1999 survey. AWWAs Jon DeBoer explains that, Assistance has been provided to utilities that have requested it, either one-on-one, or through the development of articles and guidance documents. In addition, state agencies have assisted utilities in their preparation in many states, although I don't have comprehensive data on that. (E-mail, 10/28/1999  Appendix C). The 1999 survey showed results that are, at best, confusingly presented. At worst, they are internally contradictory and misleading. At different points in the text, the July 16, 1999 preliminary report states that 92 percent of all systems are 100 percent Y2K compliant 40 ; that "the utilities reporting have an average of 80 percent or more of their systems completely through the Y2K compliance process" 41 ; and However only a very few systems are 100 percent Y2K compliant at this time. . . When looking at the last steps, testing and contingency planning, only 40-50 percent are 100 percent ready at this ------------------------------- [Footnotes] 38 Ibid. 39 GAO Report, April 1999, supra. 40 The July 16, 1999 preliminary report states that "overall, 92 percent of all systems have gone through the inventory, assessment, remediation or replacement and testing required to become completely Y2K compliant" (p.3). And, below the chart on p. 5, the report states again that "of all systems about 92 percent have been shown to be 100 percent Y2K compliant." 41 The report states that "the utilities reporting have an average of 80 percent or more of their systems completely through the Y2K compliance process." (p. 4) And, Table 3 shows that, overall, utilities have completed remediation/replacement of 85/82 percent of their infrastructure systems and 83/80 percent of their support systems. Table 3 also indicates that utilities have completed testing of 83 percent of their infrastructure systems and 80 percent of their support systems. ----------------------------------------- [Page 22]

time. 42 Obviously, not all of these statements can be true  if only 40 percent of utilities are fully compliant then 92 percent cannot be. Read for yourself the apparent contradictions in the AWWAs report: Below the chart on page 5, the report states that "of all systems about 92 percent have been shown to be 100 percent Y2K compliant." But, one sentence later it states, "However only a very few systems are 100 percent Y2K compliant at this time. Figure 2 shows those utilities that are 100 percent complete with all steps of their Y2K Preparedness Program, by utility size. When looking at the last steps, testing and contingency planning, only 40-50 percent are 100 percent ready at this time." But Figure 2 (on the next page) appears to show that less than 40-50 percent are ready. Figure 2 43 suggests that a) very large utilities are 20 percent complete in their remediation efforts and smaller utilities are between 20 to 45 percent complete in their remediation efforts. b) utilities are 20 to 45 percent complete in their replacement efforts; and c) utilities are zero to 45 percent complete in their testing efforts. The survey results also cast doubt on the industrys assertion that the largest utilities are the best prepared. None of the four very large utilities who responded to this survey had completed testing of their infrastructure systems, and only about 20 percent had completed remediation/replacement of non-compliant infrastructure systems. This is consistent with the GAOs July 1999 telephone survey of 21 major cities: of the 17 cities that owned or operated water or wastewater treatment facilities, only five were Y2K-ready. At this point, it is entirely unclear whether or not these utilities are prepared for the century digit change. Follow-up phone calls to the 500 largest utilities that failed to respond to this survey produced disappointing results, according to AWWA.

----------------------------- [Footnotes]: 42 "However only a very few systems are 100 percent Y2K compliant at this time. Figure 2 shows those utilities that are 100 percent complete with all steps of their Y2K Preparedness Program, by utility size. When looking at the last steps, testing and contingency planning, only 40-50 percent are 100 percent ready at this time." 43 While the horizontal axis was not legibly labeled in the original web version of the chart; AWWA has since provided a legible version of the chart.

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I apologize for the lengthy post, but this information is vitally important.

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), December 11, 1999.

Well, that didn't format well. Sorry. Following are excerpts on wastewater utilities, starting on the bottom of page 26:

a. Few utilities have responded to surveys by industry representatives. The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) is a coalition of almost 250 publicly owned treatment works. According to AMSA, its members collectively serve the majority of the sewered population in the United States and treat and reclaim more than 18 billion gallons of wastewater each day. AMSA surveyed its members three times  in June 1998 (76 responses), October 1998 (43 responses) and July 1999 (51 responses). Thus, each survey elicited responses from between approximately 17-30 percent of its members.

[Page 27]

b. AMSAs surveys indicate Y2K-readiness is low in the wastewater industry Only four percent of the sewage treatment plants responding to the July 1999 AMSA survey were Y2K-ready, and just 14 percent had completed the repair phase of their Y2K program. While AMSA has expressed its belief that in the five months from the time of its survey to January 1, 2000, all wastewater systems will be prepared, this belief appears to be based upon faith and hope rather than upon hard data or evidence. Notably, respondents to AMSAs October 1998 survey projected that by April 1999, 35 percent would be complete with repair, 24 percent would be complete with testing, and 18 percent would be complete with implementation. Obviously, these predictions were more than 100 percent off-base (almost 400 percent in the case of implementation)  even six months later industry readiness did not approach those rosy predictions. Thus, there is no reason to trust the industrys latest round of assurances. According to the Senate Y2K Committees September report, While the confidence level of the wastewater industry is very high, the recent AMSA survey data indicating only a 14 percent completion rate as of July 1999 is a cause for great concern.

[Page 28]

B. Recent government reports overstate industry readiness. Government reports on Y2K issues in the water industry are at odds with each other and overstate industry readiness. Some reports, particularly those by the Presidents Council, present an overly-rosy view of industry readiness, and simply omit data that does not support this rosy view. Others, like the Senate Y2K Committee report, acknowledge grave doubts concerning industry readiness in the wastewater sector yet are misled by the confusing language of the drinking water industry surveys into reporting higher levels of compliance than is justified by the data in the cited surveys.

[Page 29]

1. Government reports misinterpret AWWA, AMWA & NAWCs 1999 survey. Both the Presidents Council and the Senate Y2K Committee appear to have been misled by AWWA, AMWA and NAWCs recent survey into believing that the drinking water industry is 92 percent ready:  The Presidents Council reports Data from the survey, conducted by a group of major trade associations in June 1999, show that, overall 92 percent of water systems report that they are fully compliant, and a significant number are in the final stages of remediation and testing for their individual infrastructure and support systems. 49  The Senate Y2K Committee similarly stated that of 614 responses, 92 percent report they have completed all phases of their Y2K work, including testing. Based on this interpretation of the survey, the Committee concluded, The enormous scope and variation in the use of technology in the water industry makes it difficult to generalize. However, our assessment of the water industry is generally positive. 50 This is an entirely understandable interpretation of the published industry survey results. However, based upon the new information explained above, it turns out to be substantially incorrect. AWWA admits that the survey results show that very few water systems were ready for Y2K. In fact, it appears that only 20 to 40 percent had completed remediation, and even fewer had completed testing.

[Footnotes]

49 Fourth Summary of Assessment Information, Presidents Council on Y2K Conversion at www.y2k.gov/new/4thquarterly.html. 50 Senate Committees 100 Day Report, supra.

[Page 30]

2. The Presidents Councils optimistic final report entirely omits AMSAs discouraging survey results. The Presidents Councils final report actually omits AMSAs surveys, which demonstrate low levels of readiness in the wastewater industry. Blithely concluding that most drinking water and wastewater systems have the ability to convert to manual operations when automated processes are disrupted, the report fails to mention the most significant wastewater industry surveys, which suggest that sewage treatment facilities lag far behind in Y2K readiness. As explained above, AMSAs 1999 survey found that only four percent of respondents were Y2K-ready, and just 14 percent had completed the repair phase. The Senate Committee found AMSAs survey results a cause for great concern and significant enough to conclude that we feel justified in saying we are alarmed by these statistics. Yet it did not rate a mention in the Presidents Councils report. Nor was a link to AMSAs website provided, despite the listing of links to websites of the EPA, AWWA, and AMWA. While we appreciate the Presidents Councils desire to avoid panic and reassure the American people that Y2K will be a mere bump in the road, there is simply no excuse for omitting significant and relevant data from a report purporting to be a Summary of Assessment Information. 3. GAOs recommendations on public disclosure and mandatory surveys were not adopted. Consequently, we still know little about industry readiness. In its April 1999 report, GAO reported that little is known about the Year 2000 status of the nations water and waste water facilities. A few months later in July 1999, GAOs telephone survey of 21 major U.S. cities elicited the disturbing news that of the 17 cities that owned or operated drinking water or wastewater treatment facilities, only five were Y2K-ready. GAO recommended that the Presidents Council on Year 2000 Conversion consider requesting that the water sector associations publicly disclose the status of those facilities that have responded to surveys, and identify those that have not responded. The GAO also suggested that the Council consider the feasibility of making surveys mandatory. Unfortunately, GAOs recommendations were not adopted. Consequently, in December 1999, we still know little about the industrys real state of readiness.

===================================================================

That's all I will post. Read the rest. This is damning the entire industry. I expect a PR blitz stating that everything's under control.

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), December 11, 1999.

Anyone who still believes Koskinen is being honest, or is sharing everything he knows (as he promised Americans he would), is simply delusional. Why has he refused to post his recent memo on embedded systems on his website? (Hint: Do you see anything remotely resembling bad news there?)

-- counting down (the@hours.now), December 11, 1999.