Water crisis countdown
When Hurricane Floyd passed through on September
16, he left behind a considerable amount of water,
but not much of it could be drunk.
Firestone Library took on water in dozens of
spots. Leaks in the roof damaged about 800 books in
one spot and 30 in another. Water was also driven
into the B and C levels at the Nassau
Street-Washington Road corner. "Thousands of books
and our computer room would have been soaked if we
hadn't been able to muster up crews for
wet-vacuuming -- first by some of our custodial
staff who stayed until the end of the day and later
by library workers," said Librarian Karin
Trainer.
While no other serious leaks were reported, the
aftermath of the hurricane found the campus
surprisingly dry. The storm had damaged the primary
water treatment facility of the Elizabethtown Water
Co., which serves municipalities in six
counties.
September 18. Elizabethtown declared a
water crisis and began contacting large-scale
consumers to negotiate stringent conservation and
sanitation measures, as rapidly falling water
pressure would leave fire hydrants and hospitals
without sufficient water and leave the system
vulnerable to bacterial contamination.
Dining Services began using paper plates,
revised menus and began using bottled water for
cooking; food service ceased in several campus
locations and was reduced in others. Water coolers
were made available throughout campus, with
locations posted on the Public Safety website.
Building Services used water only to clean
restrooms and distributed waterless products to
sanitize the hands. Athletics closed the swimming
pools and Baker Rink, and all athletic shower rooms
and laundries were shut off. Facilities shut down
the air conditioning in buildings with natural
ventilation and closed all dorm laundry rooms.
The most onerous conservation burden fell to
residents of University housing facilities, who
were asked to refrain from showering, washing
clothes or dishes, or flushing toilets
unnecessarily, and were warned to refrain from
using tap water for drinking, cooking or brushing
teeth. Students were advised of the symptoms they
might experience if they drank contaminated water
and were urged to contact Health Services if they
experienced any such symptoms.
An ad hoc crisis management group was convened
by Vice President for Finance and Administration
Richard Spies to meet regularly over the next few
days. The campus community was kept apprised via
e-mail and advisories posted on the main University
web page.
September 20. Departments with lab
facilities turned off autoclaves, dishwashers and
other systems that require water. Some suspended or
postponed experiments. The Plasma Physics Lab
substituted water from a local canal for use in
experiments and fire protection and reduced its
consumption by approximately 75 percent.
Later that day, Elizabethtown reported for the
first time that water pressure in the system was
holding stable, an indication that the conservation
measures taken at Princeton and elsewhere were
working.
September 21. Elizabethtown brought the
first pumps back online, and the plant returned to
approximately 10 percent operation. While the
company emphasized that continued conservation was
essential, it advised residential consumers they
could resume taking brief showers.
The staff in deans' offices, Facilities and
elsewhere began to receive numerous calls from
anxious students and parents expressing concern
about rumors that the campus water supply was
highly contaminated and would soon be cut off. The
offices of the Dean of Student Life and of the
Graduate College e-mailed all students to reassure
them that no evidence existed of contamination, and
there was no plan to cut off the water supply. The
rumors were subsequently attributed to a widely
circulated e-mail message.
September 22. Facilities distributed
5,000 one-gallon containers of water free to
undergraduate and graduate students.
Elizabethtown officials began to express
optimism that the campus could expect substantially
improved water flow by the weekend. Spies wrote to
all faculty and staff: "The conservation steps all
of you have taken have been absolutely critical in
enabling the water company to stabilize the system
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!"
September 24. Elizabethtown reported that
the Princeton community could gradually return to
more normal levels of consumption. As testing
showed no signs of contamination, the company also
lifted sanitary precautions. The University
reopened dorm laundry rooms, as well as shower
rooms in athletics facilities.
September 27. All University facilities
were back to normal.
|