Celebration Residents Scramble for Boil Water Alert
March 22, 2010 by Jim Siegel
Filed under Around Town
Celebration, Florida and other area residents recently scrambled to cope with a water main break nearly ten miles east of Celebration near U.S. 192. Although water pressure was reportedly quickly restored, the local water authority warned residents to boil water as a precaution for several days, setting off a run on bottled water at local supermarkets. Such water problems have been rare in Celebration. The episode was a reminder that abundant supply of fresh water is another modern convenience that’s easy to take for granted until it’s suddenly taken away.
About 12:30 pm on Thursday January 26, 2010, a major 20” water main break occurred near the corner of Carroll Street and John Young Parkway. The main belongs to the Toho Water Authority, the organization that provides water to Celebration’s Enterprise Community Development District. Construction of some sort was reportedly underway in the area of the break, but the cause of the break had not been officially determined as this issue went to press.
In a Friday evening interview, Toho’s Utility Information Coordinator Mary Guidone explained that within a half an hour of the break Toho had issued a press release and notice to many local municipal officials as well as the media. News bulletins on local Orlando TV and radio stations did not specify Celebration as included in the affected area, causing initial uncertainty and confusion among residents. She acknowledged that Toho had received many calls from Celebration residents on Thursday evening and Friday. She explained that she and her Toho colleagues felt bad that so many Celebration residents had not received notification for so long after the break occurred. A formal, all-residents notice was distributed to Celebration residents on Friday morning about noon as the lead story of the regular weekly Celebration Town Hall email newsletter.
The area affected roughly paralleled the U.S. 192 corridor, bounded by I-4 on the west, Osceola Parkway on the north, Michigan Avenue on the east, Orange Blossom Trail on the south, with some other limited areas in the southeast corner of that quadrant.
Asked why the County’s Reverse 911 System was not used to inform residents, Ms. Guidone explained that because the number of affected was so high (about 45,000), it was decided not to use it. According to County sources, the system is capable of making about 1500 calls per hour, meaning that thirty hours would have been required, causing thousands to be called in the middle of the night.
The water main break was repaired by about 11 pm on Thursday night. Early Friday morning, water-testing samples were collected at eight locations in the affected area, including a point at which Toho’s water flows into the Celebration system. Results had been expected early Saturday afternoon, and it was anticipated that shortly thereafter Toho would issue a notice to its usual large distribution. If appropriate that notice would have included further recommendations or cautions to residents. If necessary, Toho might have flushed the pipes in certain areas or added more chlorine to the water.
By Friday evening, the bottled water shelves were bare at the local Publix supermarket. By Saturday, Publix had restocked the shelves, in spite of strong demand.
Some residents reported that they learned of the Boil Water Alert on Friday evening from the Town’s internet website, called the Front Porch Forums. Others were informed at work on Friday.
Reunion resident Peggy Samulowitz first learned of the alert in the Saturday morning yoga class at the Celebration Fitness Centre. “As far as I know, there was no notification to Reunion homeowners.” she said.
Fortunately, Toho announced on Saturday afternoon about 1:15 pm that the boil alert had been lifted. Life in the area with respect to water supply resumed to normal.
Originally posted 2010-02-15 06:16:54.
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