US Senate Report on Utilities and the Year 2000 Problem (pdf)

• WATER UTILITIES Overview Water: There are approximately 200,000 public water systems (PWSs) regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act that serve 243 million people in the United States. The remaining population obtains their drinking water from private wells. PWSs are defined as community water systems, non-transient, non-community, or transient systems. Approximately 60,000 of the 200,000 public water systems are classified as community water systems. A community water system provides water to the same population year round. There are 3,687 community water systems in the U.S., which serve a population of 10,000 or more, and provide water to a total of 204 million people.
• Currently, no legal authority exists to require that power utility companies consider water and wastewater companies as priority customers.
• During her testimony, EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator Dana Minerva noted that the EPA does not consider reliance on switching to the manual mode of operation as the preferred solution to Y2K problems. Manpower limitations were cited during the testimony as one impediment to a company’s ability to easily switch to the manual mode of operation. It was concluded that operation of water and wastewater plants in the manual mode requires skilled and certified operators. It should also be noted that each water and wastewater treatment system requires operators to possess a body of knowledge specific to those individual systems. ...staffing would become an issue for his agency if manual operations were required for an extended period of time.
• The EPA identified six major areas in water and wastewater treatment facilities where embedded computer chips might be located. These are communications infrastructure, instrumentation, facilities and support, materials tracking, production and process, and process controls. The list included 51 individual devices that potentially could contain embedded chip technology. Of primary concern in the water and wastewater industry is the vulnerability of sensitive SCADA systems utilized in automated water and wastewater processes deliver their services.

California State Water Resources Control Board: Waste Treatment and Y2K

• Glitch during Y2k test spills 4 million gallons of sewage
• Glitch in Y2K Test Causes Spill Of Raw Sewage Into City Park 
• Fears of Sewage Spill Delay Y2K Test at Plant    LA Times   6-21-99
• The GAO Report- The Nation's Y2K Water System Status Is Largely Unknown (AndWhat You Can Do In Your Own Area)
• Links

UK National Infrastructure 2000

• Water and Sewage - The industry has had a concerted approach to this issue for some considerable time. In total the industry is estimated to have spent some £170m addressing the Millennium date-change issue. The major part of this has been spent in assessment and testing. Where changes were needed, these were largely in the form of replacing non-compliant equipment. Of the items inspected or assessed (i.e. those which use or might use date/time functions) some 3% needed to be modified or replaced. The vast majority would, if not fixed, have caused only logging and recording problems rather than any issues with safety or quality of delivery.

Water UK - promoting the UK water industry

• Water UK - Industry moving ahead on Y2K bug Date: 23/04/1999 Bulletin Ref: w19990046  - The water industry is on target to tackle the millennium bug, according to latest industry figures. The update counters claims by a Sunday newspaper that the industry is lagging behind in its preparations, and coincides with a National Infrastructure Forum held by Action 2000, the government task force set up to deal with millennium issues.

US General Accounting Office: AIMD-99-151 Apr. 21, 1999 (43 pages). Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Status of the Water Industry.

• As a result, insufficient information is available to assess and manage Year 2000 efforts in the water sector, and little additional information is expected under the current regulatory framework

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water

• The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water is committed to assisting drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities meet the challenges of the Millennium Bug, Y2K, or the Year 2000, in order to avoid public health and environmental problems that could occur should these facilities fail to operate properly because of Y2K difficulties.
• Y2K/ Water Fact Sheet
• EPA Regional Water Program Contacts for Y2K and State Year 2000 Initiatives

Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies

• Year 2000 - Model Y2K Action Plan for Drinking Water Utilities

American Water Works Association

• American Water Works Association - Y2K Problems and Solutions
  • What Should Water Utilities Be Doing To Protect Their Public?
    • MainStream on Y2K
  • June 1999 Survey Questionnaire
  • Last Survey Results
    • Question 9 -Are you confident that all your internal Y2K planning, implementation, and testing will be completed in time?
      • 588 - yes, 96 - no, 41 - did not answer.
• Water Utility Sites

Association of Metropolitan Sewage Agencies

• AMSA - Y2k Section
  • AMSA Survey Documents - AMSA member agencies appear to be on track for responding to the challenges posed by the Year 2000 (Y2K) "Millennium Bug," according to the results of a second Y2K survey conducted by the Association. While survey results indicate that the majority of responding agencies expect to be Y2K compliant by Jan 1, 2000, significant work on remediation, testing and contingency planning will need to be conducted in 1999.
  • AMSA Year 2000 Survey Analysis - December 1998
    • All responding agencies with automated process controls have the ability to switch to manual operations almost immediately or within hours in the event of a Year 2000 failure. Approximately 15 percent of AMSA agencies reported potential treatment plant problems and possible compliance issues as a result of switching to manual mode.
    • One of the biggest concerns in this situation is that collection system and plant operational data would not be immediately accessible for the operators, and whether this would lead to sewage backups, overflows, or compliance problems. However, most agencies reported that switching to manual mode would pose no, or very minor, problems as many automated operations run in parallel with "manual" instrumentation and control.

Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (No apparent Y2K)

• Water Online Virtual community for the water industry
  • Utilities Pose Biggest Worldwide Y2K Threat May 22, 1999 - Less is known about how supplies of fresh water will be affected by the year 2000 computer problem. An April assessment from the U.S. Government Accounting Office, an independent watchdog agency, found that "insufficient information is available to assess and manage year 2000 efforts in the water sector, and little additional information is expected under the current regulatory framework." The report did go on to note that large drinking water and public wastewater facilities, serving most of the U.S. population, are generally expected to manage well, with smaller facilities representing the largest unknowns.

American Public Works Association

Water Environment Federation

Canadian Water Resources Association

The World Bank Group Partnerships in Development--Water

• UNDP–World Bank Water and Sanitation Program
• Rural Water and Sanitation Think Tank
  • OneWorld Think Tank on Water and Sanitation
    • OneWorld
    • GARNET
    • IRC
    • WaterAid
    • World Bank

Lifewater.Org: Handpumps and water well drilling training for safe drinking water

• Lifewater Canada Links to Other Sites

Sandec.ch: Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries

UN Development Program