Editor’s Note: Building resiliency

Building resiliency against mayhem

Sarah Wright | Editor

When things go wrong, they tend to go really wrong — in accordance with Murphy’s Law, of course. Being a fan of the Top-

Tenz YouTube channel, my eyes have been opened to just how fragile our human systems are when confronted by extreme displays of nature, cosmic catastrophes or even nefarious players, who have to muck it up for everyone else. With the right punch, basic services and utilities can be knocked out, a disruption no one wants, especially if it stretches—like seen in the South following February’s massive winter storm.

The pandemic tested all avenues of city operations in 2020, and 2021 has proven equally as interesting for utilities. In early

February, a hacker adjusted Bruce T. Haddock

Water Treatment Plant’s — located in Oldsmar, Fla.—sodium hydroxide to unsafe levels.

Thankfully, the facility’s remote supervisor saw the tampering and made the appropriate adjustments. While this may seem to be a rare occurrence, writer Denise Fedorow found it happens more often than one might suspect and not always by a faceless individual in another country miles away but by former disgruntled employees—a key reason to remove access upon termination.

On this issue, Fedorow spoke with the

American Water Works Association and Mandiant Threat Intelligence at FireEye about ways utilities can safeguard against cyberattacks.

She also shares tools the AWWA has developed for its members to become more secure.

Securing new sources of water can also aid resiliency. Oceanside, Calif., is constructing a state-of-art recycled water purification facility called Pure Water Oceanside. This facility will reduce Oceanside’s imported water by 45% while making the city more drought proof. Writer Nicholette Carlson shares more about Pure Water Oceanside in this issue, including how its purification process will work.

Having different means for maintaining power in a crisis is another important aspect of resiliency planning. Many municipalities have already begun to adopt alternative power sources like solar and wind to meet carbon footprint reductions; however, in a pinch, these alternatives, when paired with batteries or generators, could maintain city operations during a power outage.

Healdsburg, Calif., is doing something out of the norm with its solar array, namely, it’s floating it on top of the wastewater treatment facility’s ponds. Writer Julie Young shares the new floating solar array is proving to be a triple threat for the community: meeting environmental goals, reducing algae buildup and producing 8% of the community’s annual electrical needs. It’s a rather cool project Healdsburg has going on! It’s also the largest floating solar array in the U.S.

Other water and energy articles include a partnership between Madison and Dane County in Wisconsin to improve the energy efficiency of their shared City-County Building and Ann Arbor, Mich.’s, impressive stormwater management program.

Thank you, utility workers, for keeping the power on and the water flowing. Without you, society would truly fall apart.