|
Anticipating problems, be they man-made or natural
disasters, is an important part of our planning process. A very
unusual and intense rain event caused serious disruptions in the
Octoraro and Brandywine watersheds just three days before our entire
ser-vice area was hit by Hurricane Isabel. Yet, in spite of the
challenges that these storms presented, no
Chester Water
Authority customers lost their supply of drinking water.
Thanks to proactive engineering and design, back-up systems were in
place in anticipation of a loss of power.
Because there are areas in our distribution system
that are at different elevations, water pressures need to be
adjusted to levels that can be used by our customers. We have
booster stations in our distribution system to maintain pressures at
acceptable levels, so our customers can always have a dependable
supply of water. Each one of our booster stations has available a
diesel generator that provides back-up power when electrical power
is interrupted.
Our
treatment plant is also capable of operating at its normal
production capacity of 34 million gallons per day during a power
outage. We have emergency diesel generators and pumps driven by
diesel engines. Adequate fuel supplies are on hand to operate this
equipment for several days. We can fully treat and pump water
during extended power outages.
In
addition, if the Authority is affected by a power outage, we have an
estimated three-day supply of water located at our Village Green
Tank Farm, a reserve at our Oxford storage facility, and a supply of
water in our transmission main.
All of
the back-up equipment was kept running during the rains and winds of
Isabel through the dedication and hard work of CWA employees, who
worked around the clock to make sure all customers had water.
Our philosophy of preparedness and reliability
ensures that ad-equate facilities are in place to avoid disruptions
caused by natural occurrences such as hurricanes, droughts, ice
storms, and electrical blackouts.
|
