Sprinkling Ban: Water Emergency

The City of Wyoming water treatment plant serves many municipalities extending from Kentwood to the lakeshore. Due to a crack in one of the water transmission mains that brings water from the plant to the partner municipalities, the City had to issue a sprinkling ban on August 11, 2020 – at the height of the pandemic – in order to prevent catastrophic pressure loss which would result in system-wide boil advisories.

After consulting with the public works director and plant manager, Amanda plotted out a communication plan to implement within 48 hours. Given the current climate – politically and in the throes of summer – the messaging needed to be very clear in order to induce compliance with the sprinkling ban.

The project included:

writing two media releases
providing talking points to staff and elected officials
developing template communications for the customer communities to share with their customers
creating a project webpage
placing a pop-up window on the website
scripting, filming, and editing an explanatory video
deploying regular social media updates
coordinating media interviews

Results

The news media was absorbed by pandemic-related coverage and was difficult to get earned media. The communication campaign successfully curbed the total consumption of water so that the City of Wyoming maintained the pressure and avoided a system-wide boil water advisory that could have impacted 230,000 water customers.

Communication Plan

The communication plan helped the team stay on the same page.

Webpage and Media Releases

A sprinkling ban webpage was created to host explanatory information and web updates as well as a pop-up on the sight announcing the sprinkling ban. Two media releases were issued, a media release announcing the ban and a media release announcing the lifting of the ban.

Social Media Posts

Water is a very sensitive topic and the messaging for the water emergency was challenging. There was not a contamination issue but likely would be if consumption did not drastically drop. To help keep the community up-to-date, a social post was issued nearly every providing updates and additional information.

Explanatory Video

After the announcement of the coming sprinkling ban, it was apparent that people were not taking the time to read the web content. Amanda worked to address many of the questions in replies in the comments as well as by creating a video out of the webpage content. Once issued, the response to the water emergency was much more positive as people were more easily able to conceptualize the issue through a video presentation than a static webpage.

Talking Points

Transmission Line Repair
- The City of Wyoming has declared a Level Three Water Emergency, due to a water transmission main repair.
- The repair will temporarily reduce the capacity of the water system making it necessary to institute a Sprinkling Ban.
- The emergency repair will take one of the two water transmission mains out of service, reducing the capacity of the water system.
- Currently, the City of Wyoming water facilities are pumping at maximum rates to meet peak summer demand.
- With only one water transmission line active, the water system cannot maintain the high water demand caused by summer irrigation.
Sprinkling Ban
- The Sprinkling Ban, which includes all outdoor irrigation, begins Tuesday, August 11 at 6:00 a.m.
- The Sprinkling Ban will be in effect until further notice.
- All communities served by the City of Wyoming Water System.
- The communities included in the Sprinkling Ban are Zeeland Township, Park Township, Olive Township, Blendon Township, Holland Township, Georgetown Township, Jamestown Township, Byron Township, Gaines Township, City of Hudsonville, City of Grandville, a part of the City of Kentwood, and City of Wyoming
Water Quality
- The water remains safe and drinkable so long as the water pressure is maintained.
- The emergency repair itself doesn’t impact water quality.
- However, low system pressure may impact water quality due to cross-connections, which is why it is important to follow this temporary Sprinkling Ban.