2019-159 Water Outage MessagingDate: August 9, 2019 Report No. 2019-159
INFORMAL STAFF REPORT TO MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT: Follow-up to request for information regarding public notification of water main breaks resulting in service interruption. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Council requested information regarding public notification of water main breaks, specifically if there was a way to have an automated notification service available to notify residents when a water main break occurs and/or water service is interrupted.
Several methods are currently used to inform residents of water service interruption. Based upon the Council request, staff investigated several notification alternatives available to the City through current channels and software including: City communication channels, Customer Service IVR call system, CodeRed system, the DME electrical outage map, and the DME electrical outage call
system. The following report outlines the analysis of those options by an interdepartmental team.
BACKGROUND: Current Process The City currently has a system in place where citizens can call (940) 349-7000 if to report a
utilities-related incident that requires immediate attention, such as a power outage, downed electrical poles or wires, a water main break, a clogged or overflowing sewer main, or a leaking water meter or hydrant. The system for relaying service disruptions to Utilities Dispatch has been working well (although it is situational and may not have an estimated time of service restoration when first reported). The current approach includes door hangers, water administration staff
fielding phone calls and personal interactions during business hours, combined with the use of dispatch after hours and field crews speaking with residents onsite. Alternatives Evaluated Staff from multiple departments met to discuss several notification options available to the City
including Public Affairs communications channels, Customer Service IVR call system, CodeRed system, DME outage map, and the DME outage notification system. Public Affairs has several communication channels to communicate with residents, although many are city-wide distribution channels and are not able to be automated. With more than 14,000
followers on Facebook and 11,000 on Twitter, to be effective, the messages distributed through these channels should be community-wide or have a large impact to many residents, rather than impacting a small group of residents or neighborhood block. DME has their own Twitter account to report outages, which is managed by Utilities Dispatch staff (a 24/7 operation), to notify the public as outages automatically appear through the mapping system tied to the electrical grid and
meters.
Date: August 9, 2019 Report No. 2019-159
The Customer Service billing IVR call system has the ability to send out notification alerts and has been used in the past for planned water outages. In those situations, the Water Department provided the addressing information which is matched to the Customer Information System (CIS) data for
upload and call out. These calls were strategic in nature, planned in advance and made during daytime hours. It is possible that staff could create a process which would allow entry and notifications of selected blocks in the affected area to alert recipients through the Customer Service billing IVR system that they may be experiencing a water outage due to an emergency repair. However, because the work is emergency in nature, the message would need to be generic as
customer service staff may not be on site after hours, on weekends, or holidays. The team also evaluated the City’s CodeRed Emergency system and its ability for notifications. This system is reserved for life threatening emergencies to ensure it does not become overused
which would cause citizens to ignore critical notices. It is not recommended to make this type of
notification based on an isolated incident. CodeRed does offer a General Advisory notification function under a separate additional subscription. This additional subscription could be a feasible notification alterative; however, it will require additional coordination with the Fire Department for all water main breaks and presents some staffing challenges. Furthermore, CodeRed is a geo-
targeted notification system based upon the current physical location of the user, potentially
notifying unrelated citizens, and missing impacted customers. It is not recommended that this notification be used for water main breaks. The DME system for mapping outages is automated and directly tied back into the electric
metering software. Software modifications to incorporate water outage information are not
feasible. Finally, the DME electrical outage call notification system was considered. DME electrical outage notifications are distributed by Utilities Dispatch using information tied to an electric service
address and account information which can be distributed based upon proximity to a specific
location on a street or block level. For the purposes of water related notifications, it is assumed that DME customers also have water accounts at the same address as their electric service. Utilities Dispatch staff could receive location information from Water Utilities field staff and distribute a message to electrical account holders within a small radius of the break. A limited number of water
customers are not served by DME, so this solution will not account for all water service areas. This
process will still be manual as it relies upon the transfer of information from Water Utilities field staff to Utilities Dispatch and then Utilities Dispatch staff would notify impacted residents based upon the best information available from the field.
Recommendation and Trial Program
Because some of these options may impact staffing, staff will continue to monitor public feedback and requests for such information to determine if additional notification methods warrant the effort involved. During an emergency, it is often best for field crews to talk with the residents in the field and focus on getting the work done. It should be noted that many customers already call the
afterhours dispatch line when a water or electric outage occurs so they do have a person to reach
out to regardless of time.
Date: August 9, 2019 Report No. 2019-159
Beginning the week of August 19, 2019, as a trial program, to determine if it is operationally feasible and also beneficial to residents, Water Utilities crews will notify Utilities Dispatch of main
break activities and Utilities Dispatch will provide an automated call, using the DME electrical call out system, to customers within a 0.25 mile radius of a main break that is expected to interrupt water service to greater than 10 customers for longer than 2 hours. Notification would occur only between the hours of 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM to not adversely impact residents during the overnight hours. The trial will run through September 30, 2019.
Prior to communicating with residents directly or making a notification, Utilities staff must first respond and assess the break, establishing an estimated repair duration. Each leak or main break varies greatly in scope and complexity. The condition and serviceability of system valves also
affects the spatial impact of each break; many times, valves dictate the number of customers
impacted. For these reasons a 0.25 mile radius has been selected and is expected to result in notifications being sent to up to 200-250 customers, depending upon the location of the break. In most cases, impacts will only be felt by fewer than 20 customers.
STAFF CONTACT:
Frank Pugsley Director of Water Utilities 940-349-8086
REQUESTOR:
Council Member Briggs PARTICIPATING DEPARTMENTS: Water Utilities, Fire, Police, Customer Service, Denton Municipal Electric, Communications
STAFF TIME TO COMPLETE: 24 hours