In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, a number of critical shortages can impact businesses in the disaster zone. Widespread power outages and fuel supply chain disruptions can cause serious hardships, but water supply shortages are perhaps even more critical.
A water supply shortage isn’t limited to reducing the potable water supply to your facility; a shortage can also cause substantial damage to your business’s water supply and sewage systems, regardless of your business’s size.
It’s easy to focus on other aspects of emergency preparedness plans and miss the importance of emergency water delivery until it’s too late. Don’t let that happen to your business! Consider the following reasons why emergency water delivery for businesses must not be neglected.
Why is Emergency Water Delivery Important for Businesses
Whether you’re running a large or small business, national disasters and emergencies can have devastating impacts on the infrastructure of your facility’s water supply and sewage systems. As a result, emergency water delivery must be included in your business’s emergency response plan, and here’s why:
- Potable water is vital for hospitality businesses to continue functioning. Even for manufacturing and heavy industry, a lack of potable water impacts working conditions, resulting in an unsafe or unsanitary environment.
- For industrial settings, a steady water supply can be crucial for everything from metal-cutting operations to assembly lines. Shut down the water to a factory, and production may cease entirely until the water supply is restored. The resulting downtime won’t just lower your revenue, but it could also damage your reputation, leading to lost customers and further lost revenue.
Natural disasters and the impact on the water supply
To highlight just how important it is to have an arrangement for emergency water deliveries consider how different natural disasters can impact the water supply:
Hurricanes can cause:
- Total or partial damage to facilities and buildings.
- Rupturing of mains and pipes in exposed areas.
- Rupture and damage to water tanks and reservoirs.
- Damage to electrical transmission and distribution systems.
- Flooding.
Floods can cause:
- Total or partial destruction of river water intakes.
- Damage to pumping stations.
- Blockage of system components due to excessive sedimentation.
- Loss of intake due to changes in the course of rivers and streams.
- Rupture of exposed pipes.
- Water contamination from flooded sewers or ocean water.
Introduction of saltwater into continental aquifers, contaminating groundwater and reducing its availability.
Earthquakes can cause:
- Total or partial destruction of water intake, transmission, treatment, storage, and distribution systems.
- Ruptured transmission and distribution pipes.
- Damage to joints between pipes or tanks resulting in water leakage.
- Deteriorating water quality at the source.
- Reduced yields from groundwater sources and altered or reduced flow in surface water sources.
Volcanic eruptions can cause:
- Total destruction of the infrastructure in the areas directly affected.
- Ash blockage of surface water intakes, intake screens, transmission pipes, clarifiers, and filters.
- Deterioration of the water quality at surface intakes and open reservoirs because of ash falls.
- Contamination of rivers, streams, and springs.
Landslides can cause:
- Changes in the physical or chemical characteristics of intake water.
- Total or partial destruction of the water supply intake and transmission components in the path of the landslide.
- Contaminated water.
- Indirect impacts due to blocked roads and the disruption of power and communications.
- Blockage of sewage systems due to mud and stone buildup.
Drought can cause:
- Loss or reduction of surface- and groundwater resources.
- Deterioration of water quality.
- A reduction in water levels in storage facilities and at intake points.
- Damage to the water supply system due to lack of use.
- Accumulation of solid matter in sewage systems.
Conclusion
While all of the above scenarios are natural disasters, man-made disasters can also interrupt daily business operations. Something as simple as someone accidentally severing a water supply line could knock your business out of commission for hours or even days.
How do you prepare for all the potential problems? By partnering with a dependable emergency water delivery service before a disaster strikes, not after. At Speciality Fuel Services, we’ve been answering the call of clients in various industries since 2006, ensuring that they can keep their operations running smoothly 24/7 until normal supply chains are restored.