Water Blogged

Community involvement is a key part of our commitment to the places where we live, work and serve.  Contributions include both monetary donations as well as volunteer time and talent. While COVID-19 may have cut short our in-person community outreach efforts in 2020, a new series of virtual partnerships emerged.  

After our stormy December weather and a very dry January, people are naturally wondering, “What’s happening?” While no one can predict how much rain and snow may fall in the next few months, it does have many of us wondering if this variable weather is the new normal in California.

December Conservation Results  

Have you ever wondered what it takes to deliver clean, safe water—even during an emergency? Lots and lots of planning. It all begins with our Emergency Management group, which also includes Security and Business Continuity.

In order to follow the state and county shelter-in-place order, as well as to protect the health of our employees per CDC public health guidelines, we are suspending all non-emergency construction activity requiring field support by our engineering and construction teams until further notice. This includes water main replacement projects and nearly all other planned capital improvements. Projects currently underway are being brought to a safe and secure stopping point.

While the entire community is under a shelter-in-place order, essential San Jose Water (SJW) workers are on the job to make sure your water is flowing safely and reliably.

Distribution Service (DS) Inspectors perform critical work day in and day out. Just a few of their responsibilities include marking existing water lines before any excavation begins, locating leaks in mains and service lines, performing hydrant and valve maintenance, and operating the vacuum excavator truck.

While we are committed to providing clean drinking water to the communities and families that we serve, we wanted to also let everyone know of the steps we are taking to keep our employees safe.

As part of normal operations, we plan for emergencies such as earthquakes and wildfires. We have business continuity plans in place to make sure our operations are maintained in the face of adversity. COVID-10 has created some unique challenges.  Below are some details of critical steps to keep our employees safe:

San Jose Water typically uses an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspections and sediment collection in our tanks. However, the team found a new use for the ROV when a large tank sprung a leak.