Precautionary boil-water advisory process

A few weeks ago the City of Jackson issued a precautionary boil-water advisory for part of our city's water system. The advisory was necessary because a contractor struck a water main line that delivers water from our water tower east of the city near Interstate 55 on Old Orchard Road. Hitting a water line should be avoided by locating the line before digging, but in this case this precautionary measure did not prevent the line being hit.

The line that was struck was located under a creek, was a 10-inch water line that is protected by a steel sleeve and encased in concrete. In addition, the line has over 100 pounds of pressure, so the water should flow outward, and the chance of any contaminants getting into the line is very minor. But the chance of no contamination is not 100 percent, so a precautionary boil-water advisory was issued until the water could be sampled and the test results returned. The test results came back approximately 36 hours later and proved the water contained no contaminants and was safe.

A precautionary boil-water advisory is issued while waiting for test results; a mandatory boil-water order is issued when water is found to be contaminated. With this situation, a precautionary boil-water advisory was what was necessary until the test results were completed.

As part of the precautionary boil-water advisory, the City of Jackson contacted the media and issued the advisory. Now, here is where the challenge begins. What additional actions should the city take to inform the public and, more important, the businesses that provide food and drinks to the public? In addition, should there be a different protocol for a precautionary boil-water advisory versus a mandatory boil-water order?

These questions have been asked as part of our follow up/post incident analysis meeting reviewing this incident. The following will be our protocol going forward for precautionary boil-water advisories and mandatory boil-water orders.

1.) Since during a precautionary boil-water advisory you cannot be 100 percent guaranteed test results will come back negative (no contamination), the notification policy will be the same as a mandatory boil-water order until test results comeback.

2.) Public media will be notified and a press release issued. Social media and city websites will also be used for notification and to provide details, maps, etc.

3.) The Cape Girardeau County Health Department will be notified; they will be responsible for contacting all food and drink providers in the affected area.

4.) The City of Jackson will follow up on the notification procedure by checking to assure the information has been disseminated and the procedures to provide additional details have been communicated.

Communication is very important during times of crisis and when citizens' services are interrupted for whatever reason. While news reports, websites, Facebook notifications and emails work very well, sometimes direct communication is necessary to assure the public is informed on a timely bases.

The City of Jackson will continue to work to improve our public communication in times of service interruption. The changes we have made, I believe, will improve the communication if water safety issues occur in the future. We will also work hard to emphasize to area contractors and citizens the importance checking before you dig to protect all of our utilities.

Dwain Hahs serves as mayor of the city of Jackson. He can be reached at mayorhahs@jacksonmo.org.