Beware the ripple effect from the Y2k unprepared

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — If you live in a city or near a big water
supplier, chances are you’ll be able to celebrate New Year 2000 with a
glass of clean tap water.
But watch out for a “ripple effect” — dirty water or no water if
smaller treatment plants aren’t ready for what promises to be the
world’s biggest computer glitch, experts warned at a federal hearing.
When the year changes from 1999 to 2000, many computers will
recognized the last two digits and interpret the date as 1900,
potentially throwing most computerized systems, from bank teller
machines to sophisticated water-monitoring equipment, into chaos.
The Senate Year 2000 Committee has been listening to the potential
problems of airlines, health organizations, credit companies and small
businesses in hopes of getting people to prepare for the “big bug.”
Sen. Robert F. Bennett, R-Utah, the chairman, recently toured a
modern water plant overlooking this city of 300,000, home of Disneyland.
The steps taken here go beyond the simple expedient already known to
many home computer buffs, said Greg Russell, the plant’s senior
electrical engineer. That solution is to “fool” one’s computer by
setting the date back to December 1983. Since 1984’s days of the weeks
and months match 2000’s, only the year would be wrong.
The Lenain Water Treatment Plant, anticipating a shortage of chips
and equipment as the fix-it deadline nears, is already stocking up on
material to duplicate existing systems, Russell said.
Manual controls have been installed at the 3-year-old plant, said
manager Richard Mathis, and all staff will be on call to keep
purification and pumping systems running by hand if necessary.
Potentially troublesome computer chips have already been inventoried.
“If we need to replace an embedded chip or something, we’ll have
time to do that,” he said.
“There needs to be that same type of plan at every facility across
the country, including your small towns,” said Don Meyer, a Bennett
spokesman.
Long-term power outages could cause problems even for major
suppliers, Bennett warned, so everyone should have generators ready. And
one plant’s troubles could spill over onto others which might be
prepared, he said.
A major concern, experts said, is small or independent agencies that
aren’t aware of the problem or may not be able to deal with it.
“‘Upstream contamination caused by a malfunctioning wastewater
treatment plant could have a direct impact on a fresh water treatment
facility located downstream,” Bennett said. “The ripple effect in such a
case is obvious.”
Most Americans get their water from big municipal plants and
treatment systems that should be equipped to deal with problems, said
Dana D. Minerva, an assistant administrator for the Environmental
Protection Agency.
“We have less information, however, about the readiness and the
level of awareness of the small and medium plants,” she said. Some
private companies are still reluctant to share information about their
computer situations, she added.