Mount Pleasant Waterworks is Dedicated to Safety

E ach year Mount Pleasant Waterworks (MPW) reviews our Emergency Management Plan in preparation for hurricane season. This year it was taken a step further with Mel Bennett, MPW’s

Productivity, Quality, and Safety Supervisor walking us through a simulated hurricane event and the steps taken in the event of an emergency.

“Each year we invest the time and effort to review our Emergency Management Plan because we know how seriously our customers’ lives could be impacted by a natural disaster such as a hurricane,” said Clay Duffie, General Manager. “This year we took the review one step further and participated in a hurricane simulation exercise,” he added

The week long exercise gave the Emergency Management Team the opportunity to interact and fill their roles and re-sponsibilities as if operating in a real hurricane situation. “It was a great learning experience, and gave us the chance to brush up on the skills needed to see our water and wastewater system through a threatening storm,” said Duffie. He added,

“These are skills that we need to have even though we hope to get through each hur-ricane season with-out having to use them.”

Mount Pleasant Waterworks’ team includes people d e d i c a t e d t o protecting our technology, food and support provi-

sions, public information coordination, human resources coverage, and of course those working in the field to keep the system operational.

“It’s an investment in the safety of our drinking water and the protection of our environment, “ said Duffie. “Better train-

ing means better decisions during critical times. That is a positive tangible thing that has come out of past emergency response situations.”

In addition to the preparations made for the Operations Cen-ter and water and wastewater systems infrastructure, employ-ees were strongly encouraged to play along at home and make sure their families had plans and knew how to carry them out. For more information on preparing your family for a hurricane visit the NOAA Hurricane preparedness site: http://w w w . n h c . n o a a . g o v / H A W 2 / e n g l i s h /disaster_prevention.shtml.

October 2009

Take part in one of the most valuable rights and responsibilities we have as citizens of a free country– VOTE in the elections coming up November 3rd. Mount Pleasant Mayor seat is up for election and Town Council has four seats open. Three Town council members are vying to become mayor: Joe Bustos, Gary Santos and Billy Swails. Those seeking to fill the four Town Council seats that will become available are: Christopher Nickels, Thomas E. Reilly, Benjamin B. Bryson, Ted W. Summerford, Russell F. Read, Phyllis J. Sheffer, Elton K. Carrier, John W. Burn, Roxanne M. Riccio, Linda G. Page, Kenneth J. Oubre, George A. Freeman, Howard Chalmers, Craig Rhyne, David Kent, Douglas B. Miller, Henry A. Middleton, Stephen G. Brock and Paiam Etminan. Mount Pleasant Waterworks Board of Commissioners has two open seats previously held by Diane Lauritsen and H. Chapman “Chappy” McKay. Mr. McKay is not seeking re-election. Diane Lauritsen and H. Mac Jenksinson are slated to fill the two open seats.

The Hurricane “OSMO” simulation exercise helped Mount Pleasant Wa-terworks prepare for any potential natural disasters.

MPW Operations Center 1619 Rifle Range Road

Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. 884-9626 (phone)

customerservice@mpwonline.com Email requests will be processed

the following business day.

The MPW Commission Newsletter, Water Lines, is produced in-house and mailed to customers each month with bills and statements. Current and past issues can also be viewed and downloaded from our website.

www.MountPleasantWaterworks.com Page 2

With cooler temperature’s around the corner, your landscape’s water requirements will significantly decrease.

Irrigation should continue on an “as-needed” basis with systems running for 10 to 25 minutes per zone twice a week through the middle of November, or when cool t e m p e r a t u r e s p r e v a i l throughout most of the day (mid 60’s). Turn your sys-tem off from mid to end of November through mid March to save additional water usage.

Another water saver is to check for damaged sprinkler heads– especially after mowing– to identify broken or plugged noz-zles, broken or misaligned heads, and any broken lines. If your system runs by a controller or automatic clock, periodic adjustment of schedules is important to compensate for cur-rent weather patterns.

Turn your pennies into DOLLARS to benefit East Cooper Community Out-reach (ECCO) or Water Missions International (WMI). Just call 884-9626 and tell us you want to ROUND-UP your next bill payment to the next highest dollar and request the change go to either ECCO or WMI. You can also sign up online by click-ing the Customer Service tab on the navigation bar, then ROUND-UP on the dropdown menu.

$ ave Money on Your Water Bill

Flushing May Briefly

Affect Water Quality

Each April and October, the Mount Pleasant Fire Department (MPFD) flushes hydrants at various locations throughout Mount Pleasant. The work is performed to ensure hydrants are functioning properly and to document the flow capacity for fire protection. In addition, the hydrants are flushed to clear accumulated sediment out of the water mains. When a hydrant is flushed, the nor-mal water flow in the pipes is in-creased and sediment may be disturbed and become suspended in the water causing discoloration. The discoloration is harmless, but it can create aesthetic problems. The sediment is naturally occurring in all water supplies and goes unnoticed until disturbed. You should avoid washing clothes, especially white clothes, if you are experiencing water discoloration or see the MPFD in the neighborhood. Any discoloration will settle down soon after the MPFD leaves the area, however, you may need to clear the sediment from the lines in your house by running the water at all faucets for 5 – 15 minutes.

Hey Kids! Come join the family fun on Sunday October 18, when the Town of Mount Pleasant hosts the annual Children’s Day Festival at Park West. There will be plenty of food, fun, attractions and games, including Mount Pleasant Waterworks’ obstacle course. Be sure to visit our H202GO mobile water dis-penser to stay hydrated with cool refreshing water from Mount Pleasant Waterworks.

Mount Pleasant Children’s Day

Festival, Fun for the whole

family!

Go Paperless, Sign Up For Electronic Billing This Month

Want to reduce your incoming mail and help keep your water bill at an affordable rate? Electronic billing through Mount Pleasant Waterworks Easy Pay system is easy to use. After you sign up you will receive a monthly email when your bill is available to be viewed. Electronic billing saves MPW money and that keeps your water and wastewater bill the second lowest in the tri-county area. To go paperless today, visit our website and sign up for Easy Pay Online.