By WESLIE STRATTON
Moapa Valley Progress
The Emergency Preparedness Committee (organized after the Sept. 9 flood) hosted a preparedness meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18 in which a representative from Moapa Valley Water District (MVWD) discussed water preservation and storage tips.
Lon Dally, of MVWD, said that he had experienced the Moapa Valley flooding as both a water district employee and a community member. He explained that the water district got hit hard with smaller lines as well as a main transmission line breaking. While trying to isolate leaks, the district bumped up the pumps to keep up with demand, he said.
Dalley said that all of the district’s large reservoir tanks are usually topped off. With the leaks during the flood, the tanks had dropped down to five feet and could not be filled to full. Because of this, the district staff had suspected more leaks than were actually found. But that in reality, it was the false rumors of an impending water outage spreading throughout the community which kept the reservoirs low, he said.
“People were preparing to store the water,” he said. He said that those who had not prepared in advance for an emergency event were suddenly realizing it and filling containers at the last minute.
“If people start pulling their storage (simultaneously) like they were that night we won’t have enough water,” Dalley said. “It was an eye opener for me at how easily and how quickly our water can be gone in the valley.”
Under normal conditions, Dally said that full tanks could last up to 2.7 days in providing water to the community. But, if in a crisis, everyone takes their storage water at once, it only lasts a few hours.
Dalley discussed recommended daily water consumption and said that households should have stored one gallon of water per day per person for a total of three days. He described various chlorination methods for water storage and said that, if drawing from water district taps, chlorination is unnecessary as that water has already been treated. Otherwise, he said that six drops of unscented bleach per gallon of untreated water will work.
In an emergency, Dalley recommended salvaging ice from freezer ice makers, water heaters and even toilet tanks void of cleaning solutions. He cautioned against gathering water from radiators, water beds, spas and pools.
In addition to the the water district presentation, an alternative medicine representative addressed meeting attendees and provided various home remedies for illness. The need for an emergency medical group was also discussed during committee reports.
Also in committee reports, Daniel Pray, a board member of the Moapa Valley Television District, informed the group that 50.4 is the community communication channel and that the district is currently working on an emergency broadcast for that channel.
