FeedsOfficials prepare to protect water supply
When a black out hit the Detroit metro area in August of 2003, people in western Wayne County went without working water for more than two days.
Now officials from throughout the region want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“There were a lot of people that were frustrated with the lack of communication from the Detroit Water and Sewer Department,” said Tim Fass, director of Canton Township Municipal Services said. “We wanted to develop a procedure where we could communicate better.”
The result of that incident was the creation of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC has since been looking into ways to better protect the water supply and ways to better prepare the region in the event of a major water distribution system emergency.
The group tested the first phase of that plan recently in preparation for a full-scale test of the plan in September. The first test took on the communications aspect, and came off pretty well.
“We had a few issues, but we learned where the flaws are in the system,” said Faas. “Now we’re working on fixing those flaws.”
The communication system works through fax and email systems. The Detroit area was divided into five zones, according to the water treatment plant closest to them.
During a routine emergency, DWSD customers receive a fax and email explaining the emergency. Once notified, they use a fan out method, where each is responsible for communicating to the next community on the list. A smart messaging system would also send out electronic messages to email, phones or pagers.
The test two weeks ago lasted about an hour, after which officials weighed the positives and negatives in a roundtable discussion in Dearborn.
“It wasn’t perfect, but by no means did we expect it to operate perfectly the first time through,” said Faas. “The only way you get better is by training.”
He said it was the first time the region had ever participated jointly in an emergency preparedness exercise and that such preparations were important.
“I think August of 2003 was a perfect example of how important water is and how people take it for granted,” he said.
