Water Blogged

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Most of us grew up with the

A very wet December has everyone’s hopes up that the drought has ended. But as 2022 begins, it’s a bit premature to start celebrating. 

According to the Drought Monitor, the recent rains have moved most of the Bay Area out of the exceptional drought condition into a severe drought stage. So, yes progress has been made. 

California is prone to many disasters including earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, storms and power outages. Most Californians will experience at least one of these at some point. Being prepared for the next emergency is the best thing you can do to ensure your health and safety. As September is Emergency Preparedness Month, here are some tips to help you prepare for an emergency.

Stay Informed

In order to follow the state and county shelter-in-place order, as well as to protect the health of our employees per CDC public health guidelines, we are suspending all non-emergency construction activity requiring field support by our engineering and construction teams until further notice. This includes water main replacement projects and nearly all other planned capital improvements. Projects currently underway are being brought to a safe and secure stopping point.

San Jose Water typically uses an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspections and sediment collection in our tanks. However, the team found a new use for the ROV when a large tank sprung a leak.

While we are committed to providing clean drinking water to the communities and families that we serve, we wanted to also let everyone know of the steps we are taking to keep our employees safe.

As part of normal operations, we plan for emergencies such as earthquakes and wildfires. We have business continuity plans in place to make sure our operations are maintained in the face of adversity. COVID-10 has created some unique challenges.  Below are some details of critical steps to keep our employees safe:

While the entire community is under a shelter-in-place order, essential San Jose Water (SJW) workers are on the job to make sure your water is flowing safely and reliably.

Distribution Service (DS) Inspectors perform critical work day in and day out. Just a few of their responsibilities include marking existing water lines before any excavation begins, locating leaks in mains and service lines, performing hydrant and valve maintenance, and operating the vacuum excavator truck.