City Manager Don Magner updated Richardson City Council about the Nov. 6 boil water notice.
Magner said the city launched an investigation to understand the incidents that lead to the notice, and ways the city can improve.
Prior to this event, the city had never issued a community-wide boil water notice, Magner said.
The details
Addressing council, Magner said the city has been on a “fact-finding mission” since the city experienced the boil water notice, which occurred because of an equipment malfunction in the Holly Water Tower, resulting in a loss of water pressure.
“The purpose of this fact-finding effort was to determine what exactly occurred in the hours leading up to the loss of pressure,” Magner said. “How and why, and also to identify any opportunities to improve moving forward and significantly reduce the likelihood of similar incidents occurring in the future.”
What happened
The incident was preventable and shouldn’t have occurred, Magner said, adding that it was caused by a combination of errors in human judgment and equipment failure.
Magner added that several improvements in training and operational oversight have been identified from the investigation and if implemented earlier, could have helped prevent the incident.
No contaminants were introduced during the loss in pressure, which lasted about five minutes, and there have been no reports of illnesses related to the boil water notice.
“We want to acknowledge that residents and businesses experienced an inconvenient, and in some cases, costly disruptions to their lives,” Magner said.
Going forward
Magner outlined the ways in which human failure contributed to the loss in water pressure and detailed what staff should have done to avoid the pressure loss and boil water notice. He also said several training opportunities were identified to ensure such an incident can be avoided in the future.
Magner made several recommendations to council, starting with disciplinary action for four staff members. Standard operating procedures and protocols related to the city’s water systems will be reviewed, updated and expanded to help staff with routine and non-routine procedures.
Additionally, the city’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, which is used to monitor the city’s water system, is 12 years old and Magner said that it should be upgraded.
“We often refer to our public services teams as first responders and we need to begin planning and testing and refining those plans, just like we do for public safety, police and fire,” Magner said.
Protocols for ongoing training were also recommended by Magner, including simulating crises and non-crises scenarios to identify other training gaps that may exist. Additionally, Magner recommended developing enhanced internal protocols, including when the city manager should be notified for awareness and assistance.
