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Experts suggest: have water on hand for Y2K

United Press International - December 26, 1999 21:10

By LARRY SCHUSTER UPI Science Editor

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) - When Jan. 1 arrives, Americans should be prepared for the Y2K bug as they would be for a bad storm and should have an ample supply of drinking water, water industry and federal officials say.

Some groups are advising everyone to store a gallon of drinking water per person per day for up to 10 days as the Y2K computer problem works through the nation's 55,000 water utilities.

Actually, officials say they expect most water systems to work properly, particularly on the largest water utilities that have sufficient numbers of well-trained staff and backup power. While no one can be sure exactly what will happen, officials describe the risk of problems as low.

Surveys by the American Water Works Association in June suggested that most water utilities were at least 99 percent ready for the Y2K bug, in which 2000 may be recognized by older unrepaired computers as 1900.

Norman Dean, executive director of the Center for Y2K & Society in Washington, D.C., however, said he remained concerned, particularly about the small- to mid-sized facilities that may be less able to have properly trained staff capable of handling Y2K problems, or that have not made arrangements for a power backups in the event of an outage.

Dean noted a General Accounting Office telephone survey in July found that of 21 U.S. cities polled, five of the 17 city-owned or operated drinking or wastewater facilities were Y2K-ready.

And he noted that the survey, which he said was less optimistic than the association's own expectations, was not verified independently, and that much of the reporting of the water utilities, as with other utilities, had no independent checks.

He repeated a quote from a Senate report on the Y2K problem, saying, ``It's kind of like the student grading their own papers.''

The Senate report said self-reporting offers data of varying reliability. ``Nonetheless, self-reporting has become the standard in private industry and government, both domestically and internationally.''

Dean listed the potential impacts of Y2K on drinking water utilities.

-Reduced water pressure.

-Increased likelihood for seepage of polluted ground water into the system.

-Difficulty in fighting fires.

-Too little or too much use of treatment chemicals such as chlorine.

But Dean remained skeptical that Jan. 1 would bring, at most, the inconvenience equivalent to a bad storm. It may be more chaotic than that, he said.

``In a bad storm, you can predict where the impacts are likely to occur. What makes Y2K different is you can't assume that people from other parts can come in and help because they may be dealing with their own problems. A winter storm is limited in geography and time, and is more predictable.''

Still, he advised against panic.

``Just take reasonable precautions. It's easy and cheap to store a little water.''

Jon DeBoerg, of the American Water Works Association represents regulators, suppliers, industry people, as well 4,000 water utilities that supply 67 percent of the nation's water.

DeBoerg said many of the nation's 55,000 water utilities included facilities for mobile home parks and tiny villages.

``Those systems are not automated, are not computerized operations... .Even a very highly automated plant is so simple....It's not rocket science we're dealing with.''

On the problem of lack of independent verification, DeBoerg said, ``It's a concern, I suppose.'' But he added, ``In the water field, one of the things our industry has been blessed with is a work force truly committed to public health.''

He characterized the Y2K preparedness of water utilities as ``very low risk, but still a risk. We don't know what's going to happen.''

Charles Fox, assistant administrator for the office of water for the Environmental Protection Agency, said his agency had not done a formal survey of water utilities, but said the EPA had been working aggressively with utilities to supply technical advice and assistance.

``I don't think Americans are going to see very significant problems with their drinking water as their clock turns to the next century.''

Still, he said, ``We are advising consumers it's probably a good idea to plan for Y2K like you are planning for any major storm event.''

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Copyright 1999 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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-- Brooklyn (MSIS@cyberdude.com), December 27, 1999

Answers

http://www.marketwatch.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CogwG0bebDtG4nJ K&FQ=v%25upi&Title=Headlines%20for%3A%20v%25upi%0A

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), December 27, 1999.

"On the problem of lack of independent verification, DeBoerg said, ``It's a concern, I suppose.'' But he added, ``In the water field, one of the things our industry has been blessed with is a work force truly committed to public health.''

What kind of happy-faced horseshit is this? Is that supposed to make me feel better? Didn't work.

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), December 27, 1999.

My DGI mother, who at one point forbade me to mention Y2K (I had only mentioned it to them TWICE), finally bought some water. 7 1/2 gallons. That's for four adults. (sigh) Better than nothing, I guess.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), December 27, 1999.