Ashley Valley Water and Sewer District Manager Ryan Goodrich has made the following public service announcement in regards to drinking water safety with COVID-19 and the sewer impacts that may occur: “As most of you know, Covid 19 is making its way across the country and at some point will arrive here in the basin. We from Ashley Valley Water and Sewer want to assure you that we take public health very seriously and meet or exceed the many EPA and State Drinking Water standards. Part of this includes disinfection, which kills the coronavirus. You can be assured that we also have response plans in place to ensure that water treatment and delivery continues. We also have been in communications with the other treatment plants in the area, and to our knowledge all of them also have a disinfection process in place as well. The water is safe to drink, and we will continue to treat is so delivery is uninterrupted. Finally, in regards to the sewer system, we have concerns about what might end up down the drain. We’ve all seen the stock-piling of toilet paper and our past experiences don’t look favorably to when people run out. If our customers want the sewer system to operate properly, then they need to ensure that they are not flushing non-toilet paper products down the drain. This includes baby wipes, “flushable” wipes, paper towels, rags, feminine hygiene products, fats, oils, grease, and other items that may be used for convenience when toilet paper runs out. More than likely these products will end up clogging private lateral lines, but ultimately end up in the sewer system and the pumps that move waste. Flushable wipes, rags, and clothing are of particular concerns as they clog the sewer pumps and ruin their ability to move waste to the treatment plant. No one wants sewer backups and we can all do our part to ensure the system works properly.”
