Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the operation of water utilities across the world. In the context of utilities, new protocols were needed to ensure that employees can work safely, and that water service is not interrupted. This study reports on how the operations of 27 water utilities worldwide were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were conducted between June and October 2020; respondents represent utilities that varied in population size, location, and customer composition (e.g., residential, industrial, commercial, institutional, and university customers). Survey questions focused on the effects of the pandemic on water system operation, demand, revenues, system vulnerabilities, and the use and development of emergency response plans (ERPs). Responses indicate that significant changes in water system operations were implemented to ensure that water utility employees could continue working while maintaining safe social distancing or alternatively working from home. A total of 23 of 27 utilities reported small changes in demand volumes and patterns, which can lead to some changes in water infrastructure operations and water quality. Utilities experienced a range of impacts on finances, where most utilities discussed small decreases in revenues, with a few reporting more drastic impacts. The pandemic revealed new system vulnerabilities, including supply chain management, capacity of staff to perform certain functions remotely, and finances. Some utilities applied existing guidance developed through ERPs with slight modifications, other utilities developed new ERPs to specifically address unique conditions induced by the pandemic, and a few utilities did not use or reference their existing ERPs to change operations. Many utilities suggested that lessons learned would be used in future ERPs, such as personnel training on pandemic risk management or annual mock exercises for preparing employees to better respond to emergencies.
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Data Availability Statement
Some data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions. Data that are restricted include recorded interviews of respondents and notes taken by interviewers. Available data are provided in this manuscript and can be found in Table S1 , which provides the characteristics of each utility and a summary of the respondent’s response to each of the five interview questions.
Acknowledgments
This research is supported in part by the National Science Foundation RAPID Program under Grant No. 2032434/2032429 and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1610403. The authors acknowledge the support of CEMMPRE (Project UID/EMS/00285/2020) by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)/Portugal Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) and through national funds.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 148 • Issue 6 • June 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 29, 2021
Accepted: Feb 4, 2022
Published online: Mar 31, 2022
Published in print: Jun 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 31, 2022
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Business management
- Client relationships
- Employees
- Employment
- Environmental engineering
- Epidemic and pandemic
- Infrastructure
- Infrastructure vulnerability
- Lifeline systems
- Personnel management
- Practice and Profession
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Safety
- Utilities
- Water and water resources
- Water demand
- Water management
- Water quality
- Water supply
- Water treatment
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