This is a follow up thread posted by Flint with a bit of a mix up over survey results and the latest brewha over the Water / Wastewater report that just came out.

The result of the thread seemed to be a concesous that the water industry is an unknown even at this moment.

AWWA water update for the record (Flint, flintc@mindspring.com, 1999-12-12)

So I thought a little bit of digging was in order to find out the waste water situation. This is the PDF version of the survey below.

August 1999 Follow Up Survey on Year 2000 Preparedness  (PDF)

Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies
AMSAs August 1999 Follow Up Survey
on Year 2000 Preparedness

AMSA Year 2000 Survey - Background

The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) is a dynamic coalition of nearly 250 of the
nations publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). AMSA 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. Over the past 29 years, AMSA has maintained a close working relationship with
Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the development of environmental
legislation and policymaking.

AMSA has been working closely with EPA and other members of the clean water community to determine
the Y2K readiness of publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) throughout the country. In late 1998,
AMSA surveyed their membership on several Y2K issues including: estimated costs to remedy Y2K
related problems, status of implementing solutions, impacts of potential system failures, and whether
contingency plans are in place should systems fail. AMSA has solicited information from member
agencies via 3 surveys: 76 AMSA member agencies responded to a June 10, 1998 survey; 43 responded to
an October 2, 1998 survey; and 51 members responded to the July 1999 follow up survey. The July 1999
survey including questions on the phases of Y2K preparedness (awareness, inventory, assessment, repair,
contingency planning, testing, implementation) and public information/awareness efforts.

Current Status of AMSA POTW Y2K Efforts

According to our most recent survey, 100% of the respondents expect to be completed with the awareness,
inventory, and assessment phases by the end of the summer. Ninety-four percent of the respondents have
completed with the Awareness phase, 82% are currently finished with the inventory phase and 67% have
completed the assessment phase. Fourteen percent of the respondents are currently complete with the
repair phase with 100% of respondents reporting expected completion in early fall 1999. The survey
results also indicate that in the final three phases, 25% of the respondents are currently finished with the
contingency planning phase, 12% the testing phase, and 4% the implementation phase. The respondents
indicated that they expect to have these three phases completed by early fall 1999. Please refer to Figures
1 & 2 for more information on the current status of responding agencies in accordance with the six defined
phases of Y2K remediation.

AMSA Y2K Survey Analysis

Page 2

AMSA Members Developing Y2K Contingency Plans

The July 1999 survey also requested additional information from AMSAs membership on the
development of contingency plans. Of the 51 respondents, 50 agencies currently have contingency plans
or are in the process of developing Y2K contingency plans. Respondents cited that back-up power was
one of their biggest concerns when developing their contingency plan. Many of the members plan to
portable power generators on hand during the rollover. Almost 70% of the respondents indicated that their
contingency plan included requiring additional staffing during the rollover. Ninety-four percent of the
contingency plans include an on-call list of all personnel and 80% plan to change personnel leave plans
during the rollover. Shortage of chemicals is another concern for POTWs, and 82% of the respondents
indicated that their contingency plans address the adequacy of necessary chemical supplies and include
stockpiling necessary chemicals. Only 36% of the plans include directions to shut down processes
partially or completely during the rollover. Many POTWs will rely on manual operations during the
rollover, with 62% of the respondents reporting manual operation guidelines as a major part of their
contingency plan. AMSA members also reported that their contingency plans include provisions for extra
food and security for on-duty personnel during the rollover, back-up communications systems, and having
extra pumps on standby for emergencies.

Information Sharing

A large part of the Y2K problem is based on a lack of information and communication between wastewater
treatment plants and their communities. The July 1999 survey also addressed what types of public
information/outreach their facilities have distributed to their customers and the general public. The majority of
the respondents are relying on billing inserts and their county/city web sites to distribute information to their
customers. Respondents also cited high levels of participation in public forums and Y2K fairs as ways to get
the information out to the public. One member agency has created a lending institute for small municipal
dischargers that need funds to remediate their Y2K problems.

Next Steps

AMSA plans to continue working with EPA and other clean water stakeholders to assist the wastewater
community in addressing the Y2K problem.
 

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 14, 1999

Answers

Also here is a paper from Sally's site on Sewage risks. It is a bit old but may be of interest to folks

Y2K Kitchen - NOVAY2K Waste Disposal Paper

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 14, 1999.

14% of 51 agencies that bothered to respond to the July 1999 survey out of 250 members HAVE C0MPLETED REPAIRS! 199 publicly owned treatment facilities, a huge question mark.

I see these frightening stats day after day after day and somehow, incredibly, people actually feel not think that we won't have huge problems. That's what denial will do...

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), December 14, 1999.

More information

EPA OW Web Page

 Y2K California State Water Resources Control Board

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 14, 1999.

I should have taken the breaks out of the survey report so if there is formating problems (jagged text) just pull your window to full size.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 14, 1999.

If you have good antennas for this stuff, you see that figure Two is deceptive! It combines past data with projections. (For a report in August, you can't plot December data.) But it looks nice for bottom- liners! Since this plot mixes fact and fiction, it's called a "timeline". These guys had no problem projecting into the future, why is it so difficult for us?

-- Shrinko (shrink@loonie.bin), December 14, 1999.

Report: Water, sewage utilities not Y2K-ready By Thomas Hoffman 14 December, 1999

BOSTON - A new report released by two watchdog groups claims that most US water and sewage utilities aren't prepared to handle the year 2000 rollover.

But executives from industry associations dispute those charges, claiming that the data being used is outdated and attacking the methodology used to draw those conclusions. The report, issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Washington-based Centre for Y2K & Society, states that only 20% to 45% of drinking water systems were Y2K-ready as of June 1999. However, a spokesman for the Denver-based American Water Works Association said 85% of its 4,200 members -- which are responsible for 67% of the drinking water available in the US -- had completed their Y2K remediation efforts by July. "I don't know where they got their figures from," he said. Meanwhile, the NRDC report claims that a July survey found that only 4% of US wastewater facilities were Y2K-ready. A spokesman for the Association of Metropolitan Sewage Agencies (AMSA) in Washington called the NRDC report "unnecessarily alarmist" because, in his opinion, it doesn't accurately portray the Y2K readiness of AMSA's 239 members. For example, as of July, most if not all of AMSA's members had fixed any Y2K-related issues tied to their core infrastructure and equipment. The July survey, which was conducted by AMSA, reflected that other systems still had to be repaired at that time, including billing and back-office systems, said the AMSA spokesman. A July telephone survey by the US General Accounting Office found that only five of 17 municipal water or sewage facilities it reached were Y2K-ready. AMSA didn't survey its members after July because "there was a general sense [members] were following steps to preparedness," the spokesman said.

http://www2.idg.com.au/CWT1997.nsf/09e1552169f2a5dcca2564610027fd24/08 0dc16825fc719fca2568460076b584?OpenDocument

-- LOON (blooney10@aol.com), December 14, 1999.

And "...76 AMSA member agencies responded to a June 10, 1998 survey; 43 responded to an October 2, 1998 survey; and 51 members responded to the July 1999 follow up survey..." is supposed to make who believe all is well, when only this pitiful sample responds?!

Rather insulting, seems to me. No one can be that gullible! Oh, you're right -- 'we' the sheeple will collectively swallow anything.

-- TA (sea_spur@yahoo.com), December 14, 1999.

Government Reports, IMO, are so stupefying that I rarely bother. But this one is just amateurish enough to be revealing, don't you think? Even a statistics baby like me couldn't miss that 51 respondents out of 250 members thing. God. That figure alone gives me the cryptosporidiums.

And another thing that comes clearly to mind: just when was the last time you ran your plant manually? I'd like to know. Just how many people on your staff have EVER participated in a manual run? Saying you're just going to go manual and actually going manual embodies the most salient characteristics of Y2K itself.

-- Clare (clarehamilton@mindspring.com), December 14, 1999.

"However, a spokesman for the Denver-based American Water Works Association said 85% of its 4,200 members -- which are responsible for 67% of the drinking water available in the US -- had completed their Y2K remediation efforts by July. "I don't know where they got their figures from," he said."

The Report got their figures FROM AWWA'S Y2K SPOKESPERSON!!! See his letter in Appendix D admitting that "very few" survey respondents were ready. Read AWWA's survey (all the way through, not just the first paragraph) and you'll see that they admit that "However, only a very few systems are 100% compliant at this time" (www.awwa.org/y2k07.htm -- read after Table 3).

Are we in the Twilight Zone here or what?

-- d (d@d.com), December 14, 1999.

Clare

You are right it appears, this file is from testing Y2K remediation in eight plants and the recommendations that came from the testing.

 Lessons Learned  PDF file

3. During contingency plan testing, we learned that many additional staff are needed to operate a plant averaging 254 MGD to control various stations in a manual mode. (Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; Calumet Water Reclamation Plant)

....................................................................... .....

Testing the Waters for Y2K was a partnership effort involving these utilities, their associations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA has included some of the lessons learned on this web page; one of the lessons is actually from a real life experience that happened before Testing the Waters for Y2K took place (Shorelands Water Company, Haslett, NJ).

Lessons learned based on Y2K preparation and testing experiences are welcome from other utilities as well ; EPA will be glad to add text to this site or link to the originating site depending on a utilitys preference. To add or allow us to link to your lessons learned, please call or e-mail Barry Benroth of EPAs Office of Water (202-260-2205; benroth.barry@epa.gov). We also invite you to use the information from three drinking water and wastewater case studies that were prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resource Control Board, 3 California drinking water and wastewater utilities, EPAs Region 9 Office in San Francisco, CA, and EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Y2K Lessons Learned:

1. Do your own testing (if possible) and do not rely completely on the product manufacturer. We were made aware of a couple of situations where a vendor that supplied a product was contacted regarding the Y2K readiness of their product and they claimed it was Y2K ready. When testing took place, the product failed. (Illinois American; East St. Louis Plant)

2. Be aware of potential problems that could occur after your testing when dates are returned to the current date. The rolling back of the date could potentially cause problems with your system. Work on a mock setup of your system if possible. (Illinois American; East St. Louis Plant)

3. During contingency plan testing, we learned that many additional staff are needed to operate a plant averaging 254 MGD to control various stations in a manual mode. (Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; Calumet Water Reclamation Plant)

4. Piping within the plant, such as sludge lines, was identified as a concern, particularly if the weather is very cold and a power outage occurs. The plant has ordered portable and back-up generators (as a safeguard against problems with the piping). (Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; Calumet Water Reclamation Plant)

5. Because the communication system was a concern, walkie talkies were used during the test. (Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; Calumet Water Reclamation Plant)

6. In an general emergency situation in a locality (rolling brownouts and blackouts and power surges), communications channels did not work, because the people needed (local authorities, police, etc.) were not there (due to the need to respond to other problems demanding their attention). Each utility should reinforce its emergency communications links between themselves, the city/county government, and the local power companies. (Shorelands Water Co., Haslett, NJ)

7. After the clocks are advanced, check each monitored function against what you would expect to be normal operations. For example, are pumping rates and pressure within normal ranges, are all valves and gates open that should be open or closed if they should be closed, are chemical feed rates normal, are pumps and motors that should be operating actually working, etc. (Fairfax County Water Authority)

8. In some automated systems, the large surge of new data, caused by advancing the clock, can overload in the computer buffer. To avoid overloading the buffer, it may be necessary to turn the computer off and reboot the system after the new time is set. In setting the clock forward be sure to leave enough time before the rollover for the system to reboot and come back on line. (Fairfax County Water Authority)

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 14, 1999.

An interesting thread on the forum relating to sewage system failure

 How to prevent sewer backup into basement?

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 14, 1999.