This is what you goatee heads get for being so damn libertine (NOT LIBERTARIAN) in your lifestyle. Not only won't there be any electricity for your mecca called starbucks, but now even if you pathetically try to hook up your computer's UPS to the cappuccino machine, there won't be any water to use!

[url]www.capitolalert.com/news/capalert04_20010516.html[/url]

Blackouts may create shortage of water:
                    State officials warn that supplies for
                    drinking and fire hydrants are vulnerable
                    because pumps can fail during power
                    outages.

                    By Chris Bowman
                    Bee Staff Writer
                    (Published May 16, 2001)

                    State health authorities are notifying public water utilities to secure emergency
                    water and backup power so fire hydrants won't run dry and drinking water
                    remains safe during blackouts.

                    The notice, which is being issued this week to all 8,700 public water systems in
                    the state, also advises utilities to warn the public that tap water could turn
                    cloudy or contaminated during a prolonged power outage at the utilities' well
                    pumps.

                    The Department of Health Services also suggested alerting consumers to
                    "immediately discontinue any non-essential water usage" during water outages
                    or low water pressure.

                    Clamping down on water use, particularly outdoor irrigation and car washing,
                    reduces the chances of water systems losing pressure or running dry, state
                    officials said.

                    Loss of pressure can introduce bacterial contamination into the drinking-water
                    supply. Water pipes inevitably leak, and the leakage that mixes with soil can get
                    sucked back into the system through cracks in the underground delivery
                    network. The effect, called back-siphonage, is similar to sipping water through a
                    straw.

                    As a precaution, the state health notice advises water utilities to increase
                    monitoring for harmful microbes in areas that lose power.

                    Changes in water pressure also can churn up sediment settled in pipes, causing
                    tap water to turn brown or cloudy. Consumers are advised to open hot- and
                    cold-water faucets when normal water service is restored to flush the lines until
                    the water turns clear.

                    The state health advisory comes at the beginning of air-conditioning season that
                    threatens to drain California's power-short supplies on hot days.

(continued)


                    The Association of California Water Agencies is telling its members to "prepare
                    for multiple, multi-hour power outages: 80-100 hours of power outages (during
                    the summer) based on average assumptions, up to 1,000 hours if things get
                    worse."

                    At issue are the electrical pumps that extract water from wells and keep
                    supplies flowing at a constant rate through underground networks of municipal
                    water mains and pipes.

                    The state Public Utilities Commission has exempted services "necessary to
                    protect public health and safety" from planned blackouts that power managers
                    impose to avert a collapse of the state's electricity grid.

                    The exemption, however, does not apply to water-supply or sewage-treatment
                    systems, which rely on electric pumps to keep raw wastewater from spilling out
                    of utility holes.

                    As a result, water-supply systems are at risk, even for firefighting agencies,
                    which are exempt from the blackouts.

                    "Those who provide the necessary water for those services should likewise be
                    exempted," said the water-utilities association, which is pressing the PUC for an
                    exemption from blackouts.

                    PUC officials said that most water utilities have adequate backup generators,
                    though they have agreed to further consider the utilities' case. Many of the
                    generators were bought in anticipation of the Y2K computer havoc that largely
                    failed to materialize.

                    State health and local utility officials said those generators would prove critical if
                    the power outages became more frequent and prolonged as expected this
                    summer.

(continued)


                    In its notice to utilities this week, the state health department says it
                    "encourages all utilities to secure backup power capabilities and to routinely test
                    their emergency power generating equipment. ... In addition, storage should be
                    maintained as full as possible."

                    The advisory also asks utilities to update their "disaster response plans" so the
                    state can better help utilities in emergencies.

                    Cliff Sharpe, chief of the health department's drinking-water enforcement for
                    Northern California, said small community water systems are at greatest risk
                    because they lack adequate water storage.

                    But larger systems such as those in the Sacramento area could have delivery
                    breakdowns if the outages at the well pumps last more than two hours, he said.

                    Officials at Citizens Water Resources, which serves 180,000 residents in the
                    unincorporated areas of metropolitan Sacramento, said it has water-sharing
                    arrangements with the city of Sacramento and other suppliers in the event of a
                    water outage.

                    Having enough power to deliver the water, however, is an open question, said
                    Herb Niederberger, Citizens operations manager. The utility has several
                    portable generators and many more on order to install at its wellheads.

                    Still, officials said they would need the help of residents to make sure the
                    system gets by. They are asking residents to confine outdoor watering from
                    midnight to 10 a.m.

                    "If the blackouts occur during peak hours of energy use and many customers
                    are using their sprinklers, we'll lose pressure immediately," Niederberger said.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling...

Need to let go of the anger Imbrog.

All that anger is going to burn you
up inside.


{besides what did the dot comers do to
you?You should have decent job security,
dot comers come and go...but the fast food world will always need a trained fry boy.}

Yeah Imbrog.  Show some damn loyalty.

Your throwing Pearls,Wisdom, before Swine Brog.
You can't educate the Swine or the Sheeple.
Excellent effort though!

I drink bottled watter.
I wash my car once a month.
I'm hoping for SHTF. Maybe it will knock some sense into the liberal fools in this state.