Water Online the Magazine gives Water & Wastewater Engineers and end-users a venue to find project solutions and source valuable product information. We aim to educate the engineering and operations community on important issues and trends.
Issue link: http://wateronline.epubxp.com/i/303843
wateronline.com ■ Water Online The Magazine on a regular basis. The easiest way to do this is for the water utility to increase its presence online. This is also the most cost-effective way, as many cities already have established websites for their various departments. Under a water department Web page, water utilities should create informative and educational content with relevant sources and links. At its minimum every water utility website should have general information about the various departments that fall under the water utility, including the water treatment plant, meter department, main department, and billing. Each department should be described and photos should be included if possible. It is also important to describe the water treatment process that the utility uses, the chemicals that are used, and why they are used. Include some of the laboratory testing that is conducted throughout the treatment process. Using photographs, showcase the best parts of the facility, key process and control components, and equipment. Do the same for the other water departments. Often maintenance, repairs, and the constant monitoring of the distribution system handled by water main field crew goes unappreciated. Describe some of the work that is done to maintain water distribution system integrity and post pictures of the water main crew working on the system, especially during extreme weather temperatures. This will imbue consumer respect and appreciation for staff as well as an understanding when service needs to be interrupted for maintenance or repair. Update Mailings And CCRs According to the Water Research Foundation (WRF), information sent through mail or written on mailed water bills has the highest likelihood of being read by customers. The Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) is still the best way to reach out to the highest number of people. For many utilities, however, the CCR content is very much the same from year to year. More effort needs to be put into compiling a CCR that contains refined and tactical information that will raise consumer confidence, supplemented with the rigorous testing results for all monitored contaminants. Those contaminants that are hotly debated, receive a lot of publicity, or are of concern to consumers need to be explained in more detail. For those utilities forced to stick to the four- page format due to budget constraints, a separate detailed document can be compiled and posted online together with the official CCR. In the mailed CCR and on water bills include the direct website link to this comprehensive "secondary" report. The CCR should also be posted under a general water quality section on the website. This section should also house FAQs and articles written by the utility addressing topics of concern as well as links to respectable websites and authoritative research or study reports. The most common issues consumers are concerned about are "dirty" water, cloudy water, and particulates in water. These water quality issues are common to most utilities and can usually be traced to hydrant flushing, main break repairs, and other maintenance done on the water system. Prepare FAQs to address these issues and offer solutions. Don't Just Warn, Explain For utilities located in northern climates, recent extreme cold temperatures have placed more pressure on the already aging and fragile infrastructure, resulting in more water main breaks and other repairs. When water shutoffs are necessary to make these repairs, water utilities are required to issue boil-order notices to affected customers. Recent news of water contamination and the increasing frequency of main breaks have customers on edge. Often customers given boil-order notices due to repairs assume the water is contaminated. Utilities must review their boil-order procedure and explain that process to the consumer so that they understand that not all boil orders are a result of contamination. In fact, most boil orders are precautionary in nature and due to ongoing system maintenance. Debunk Myths There are two more items that every utility should make an effort to compile Consumer confidence in tap water is lacking because most information reaching consumers about tap water is coming from sources other than the water utility. 19 Tutorial 1 8 _ V E R T _ 0 5 1 4 C l e a n w a t e r _ W a u k e g a n _ D G . i n d d 2 18_VERT_0514 Cleanwater_Waukegan_DG.indd 2 4 / 2 2 / 2 0 1 4 2 : 1 5 : 0 0 P M 4/22/2014 2:15:00 PM