Business Continuity
Business Continuity
As a critical infrastructure, the water sector bears a significant burden to continue operations under all conditions, including during planned and unplanned events. This responsibility is not getting any easier for water and wastewater utilities, considering the trends in weather-related events that are increasing in frequency and severity.
Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) address the multitude of events that may affect the continuity of operations, including but not limited to power outages, supply chain disruptions, communications outages, critical staff emergencies, and physical damage to facilities.
Resources
Supply Chain Tops List of Negative Impacts for Water Business
According to 2024 State of the Water Industry survey respondents, supply chain issues have the most significant negative impact on the North American water sector. The sector grapples with elevated demand and worldwide manufacturing delays affecting the acquisition of essential chemicals, goods, and services necessary for efficient operation. The vulnerabilities in water supply systems brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbate these challenges, while conflicts and geopolitical tensions add further complexity to supply chain concerns.
In essence, a confluence of environmental, social, and geopolitical factors persistently shapes and tests the resilience of the global water sector.
Strategies to Enhance Utility Financial Resilience
In these uncertain times, water utilities are always under stress. But those that analyze their specific risks and develop comprehensive financial resilience plans should be prepared to weather any storm and guide their customers through potentially rough waters.
A financial resilience plan ensures water utilities can continue to provide reliable water services while addressing economic uncertainty, which can be driven by the capital-intensive nature of the business. Because it relies on expensive, long-lived assets that directly protect public health, the water industry is under heavy political pressure in a dynamic regulatory environment. Too often, utilities operate in a revenue structure that is misaligned with its high-fixed/low-variable costs. Inflation and supply chain disruptions also have increased uncertainty in the sector.
Technical Resources
Reports
Manuals
AWWA Standards
M19 Emergency Planning for Water and Wastewater Utilities
This manual presents an all-hazards approach for principles, practices, and guidelines in water utility emergency planning.
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M60 Drought Preparedness and Response
This manual will help water managers facing water shortages by illustrating how to employ tried-and-true strategies and tactics of drought mitigation, as well as introducing new tools and methods.
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M71 Climate Action Plan: Adaptive Management Strategies
This manual provides comprehensive global guidance providing the relevant information required to develop a Climate Action Plan (CAP).
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Events With a Focus on Business Continuity
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Related Resources
Workforce
Workforce strategies represent a critical element of management in the water industry. Workforce strategies include building resources to help attract, recruit, train, and retain talented and skilled employees and best practices for succession planning.
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Emergency Preparedness
AWWA believes that emergency preparedness and security are of paramount importance to the reliable delivery of safe drinking water, the protection of public health, and the safety of the professionals responsible for water systems serving our communities.
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Selecting Disinfectants in a Security-Conscious Environment
Evaluate water disinfection options from a security standpoint with guidance form this book.
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Emergency Power Source Planning for Water and Wastewater
A complete planning guide for water and wastewater utilities for assessing and planning standby power needs.
Get the Book
Consider Strategies to Enhance Utility Financial Resilience
In these uncertain times, water utilities are always under stress. But those that analyze their specific risks and develop comprehensive financial resilience plans should be prepared to weather any storm and guide their customers through potentially rough waters.
Read the Article
Resilience Analysis and Emergency Response Evaluation for Drinking Water Systems
Modeling tools can simulate possible disasters to water distribution systems, including pipe breaks, power outages, and changes to water source availability. Resilience analysis can help water utilities compare emergency response strategies for disasters that could affect their water distribution systems. Socioeconomic and environmental factors are useful to identify priority areas within a water distribution system to improve equitable resilience.
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Supply Chain Threats Persist
Since early 2020, critical infrastructure sectors have endured myriad conditions that have threatened their continuity of operations. Most business entities are not autonomous or self-sufficient; rather they depend on a complex and often global supply chain of essential goods and services—this is certainly true of drinking water and wastewater systems. Supply chain matters were a roller coaster last year, and several of those challenging supply chain conditions will persist into 2023 and beyond. The following is a high-level summary of supply chain challenges and their effects on operational continuity in the water sector.
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Planning for Resilient Drinking Water Systems: Case Studies from Pennsylvania
Water utilities face tough challenges in providing reliable services as well as systemwide resilience for emergencies and unexpected events. Three case studies from Pennsylvania American Water show the importance and benefits of being proactive in building system resilience, improving response time, and reducing potential risks. Case studies on preparedness provide a checklist for other utilities to consider during all-hazards risk and resilience studies mandated under America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018.
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Now is the Time to Enhance Resilience
This February’s winter storms hit Texas and neighboring states hard, causing an incredible amount of human suffering. The combination of the storm and unusually cold temperatures caused a series of cascading electrical generation and grid failures, resulting in millions of residents and critical infrastructure providers to be without power for several days (some even longer).
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Epidemic/Pandemic Emergency Planning for Water Utilities
Epidemics and pandemics are natural disasters that water utilities must prepare for and respond to. There are mitigation measures that utilities can employ during an epidemic or pandemic to reduce the impact of these disasters on their operations and the communities that they serve. The guidance and resources in this article should help drinking water utilities deal with present and future COVID-19 concerns, as well as other public health emergencies that will undoubtedly occur in the future.
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External Resources
US EPA Supply Chain Resources
EPA does not monitor supply chain disruptions in real-time. Instead, they rely upon utilities alerting them to shortages. If your utility is experiencing a short that is impacting, or has the potential to impact water and/or wastewater systems, you can report it to SupplyChainSupport@epa.gov.
Supply Chain Resilience Guide for Water and Wastewater Utilities
EPA Publication – Understanding Water Treatment Chemical Supply Chains and the Risk of Disruptions
Water Treatment Chemical Supply Chain Profiles
Safe Drinking Water Act Section 1441
Hot to Use the Defense Production Act
Current Supply Chain Disruptions
Planning for an Emergency Drinking Water Supply
Technical Committee Engagement
AWWA members are recognized globally for their industry expertise and their generosity in sharing that expertise for a better world through better water. AWWA members participate in committee activities, developing conference programs, writing technical manuals, developing standards, creating educational content and contributing to AWWA publications. Committee members primarily interact through conference calls, emails, and face to face meetings at conferences and events.
Emergency Preparedness and Security
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