This week on Wonderful Water, join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Tiffanie Hawley, plant operations supervisor at OWASA’s water treatment plant, about our “new normal” in light of COVID-19 — and how that is affecting OWASA operations.

“It certainly has been an adjustment for everybody,” said Hawley. “Worldwide, in our locality and at OWASA — but we’re doing it in stride. We’re working to make sure that the community sees no difference in the level of service we provide.”

Citing the critical nature of safe drinking water and wastewater management, Hawley also highlighted the importance of clean water and — and the handwashing it permits — to mitigate the spread of disease.

“Public health has always been the priority, that’s our number-one job,” said Hawley. “Our traditional drinking water treatment involves disinfection that removes and kills pathogens, so that includes viruses. It always has. … Customers can continue to use tap water as normal for drinking, hygiene, cooking, whatever they like. On the other side of our operations, the wastewater treatment processes there are also just as effective.”

As social distancing guidelines continue to be advised in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, there are some staff members at OWASA who need to be in the field to perform their jobs that keep water flowing in our community.

“We have some of our staff — our operations staff, our engineering staff — that have to be out in the community to continue the jobs that they do,” said Hawley. “They — we, actually — need to maintain that social distancing. They have some stickers or labels in their vehicles that help remind everybody that we need to do that as well. …When you see an OWASA vehicle or an OWASA staff member out working, just try to respect that distance, like you would for anybody else in the community. They’ve got work to do, they want to get that work done and they want to do it safely.”

 

You can listen below for the full conversation between Aaron Keck and Tiffanie Hawley below, and visit the Wonderful Water page here for more interviews with — and stories from — the people who keep our community growing and our water flowing.

 

 

Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents use roughly 7 million gallons of water a day, and “Wonderful Water” is a monthly conversation sponsored by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority highlighting its work to keep our community growing and water flowing.

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