MAPLETON, Ore. - A Eugene Water & Electric Board crew is on the ground almost 50 miles west of town putting to work elements of the utility's resliency plan for earthquakes to respond to a different kind of crisis:
School was canceled Thursday for a third day in a row as the community waits for the water system to come back online.
On Wednesday, EWEB sent one of the utility’s emergency water trailers to Mapleton to help distribute drinking water to residents impacted by the town’s water crisis.
Crews are providing drinking water to Mapleton residents again Thursday.
“The water crisis in Mapleton is a reminder that the high-quality drinking water we all rely on is not possible without the infrastructure that delivers it,” said EWEB’s Chief Operations Officer Karen Kelley.
This is the second time EWEB has responded to help an Oregon community during a water crisis. When a toxic algae bloom in Detroit Lake made the water in Salem/Keizer unsafe to drink in 2018, EWEB provided filling stations and assistance there.
According to EWEB:
EWEB's emergency water distribution trailer is designed to dispense water from a potable source through a series of portable taps and hoses into refillable containers supplied by residents.
In addition to the water trailer, EWEB provided a 1,000-gallon water tank, 3-gallon storage containers for residents, and a three-person crew to assist with distribution.
The equipment is part of EWEB's larger resiliency plan, designed to help the community get through a major earthquake or other disaster.
According to EWEB:
EWEB has invested in three water distribution trailers, a mobile water treatment trailer and other key resiliency measures as part of the utility’s Water Reliability Program that also includes rebuilding Eugene’s water storage tanks to meet the latest seismic codes, planning for a new water treatment plant on the Willamette River, building new transmission mains, developing geographically dispersed emergency water stations, and restoring and protecting the McKenzie watershed following the Holiday Farm Fire.
EWEB has invested more than $35 million in its Hayden Bridge Filtration Facility in the past 10 years to improve resiliency for seismic and other disasters. In addition, the utility is also investing in ductile iron distribution piping, which is more flexible than typical steel or cast-iron water pipes.