Water Supply Interruptions Are Increasing: Is Your Site Prepared?

Unplanned water supply interruptions are becoming an increasingly important business continuity risk.

Ageing infrastructure, periods of drought, extreme weather and growing pressure on water networks can all affect the reliability of mains water supplies. For organisations that depend on water to maintain operations, an interruption can quickly become much more than a facilities issue.

Manufacturing processes can stop. Healthcare and care facilities can face hygiene and welfare challenges. Construction sites can lose productivity. Hospitality businesses may be unable to operate normally.

The question for organisations is therefore increasingly straightforward: if your mains water supply stopped today, how long could you continue operating?

Understanding the true impact of a water interruption

The consequences of losing water vary considerably between organisations.

For some businesses, water is primarily required for welfare facilities. For others, it is integral to production, cooling, cleaning, food preparation, healthcare, fire protection or other critical processes.

That means the first stage of effective water contingency planning is understanding where water is used and how quickly an interruption would begin to affect operations.

This should include identifying:

• critical processes dependent on water;
• normal and peak water consumption;
• available on-site storage;
• minimum volumes required to maintain essential operations;
• water-quality requirements;
• how long the organisation can operate without mains supply; and
• the financial, operational and customer consequences of an extended interruption.

This creates a much clearer picture of the organisation’s exposure and the point at which an alternative water supply would need to be activated.

Move from emergency response to planned water resilience

Many organisations only start looking for an emergency water supply once an interruption has already occurred.

That creates an immediate challenge.

During a widespread incident, multiple organisations may be looking for water tankers, bottled water and other alternative supplies at the same time. Availability can become constrained precisely when demand is highest.

A more resilient approach is to establish the response in advance. A practical water contingency plan should define how an incident will be managed, who is responsible for activating the response and what resources will be required.

This might include:

Site and water-use assessment – Understanding critical water requirements, consumption, storage and the operational consequences of losing supply.

Alternative water sources – Identifying appropriate sources of potable or non-potable water depending on the site’s requirements.

Bulk water and tanker supply – Establishing how much water would need to be delivered, how frequently deliveries would be required and how tanker movements would be managed.

On-site storage – Using temporary or permanent storage tanks where appropriate to create additional resilience and maintain a buffer between deliveries.

Bottled water provision – Planning for drinking water and staff or customer welfare requirements where mains supplies are unavailable.

Site logistics – Confirming tanker access, discharge points, connections, security requirements and any operational restrictions before an emergency occurs.

Activation and escalation procedures – Making sure everyone understands when the contingency plan should be activated and who needs to be contacted.

The objective is to remove as many decisions as possible from the emergency itself.

Alternative water supply needs to be scalable

An effective contingency arrangement also needs to consider the duration and scale of an incident.

A short interruption affecting one site is very different from a regional supply incident lasting several days.

An alternative water supply partner therefore needs the operational capacity to respond as circumstances change.

That means looking beyond whether a supplier can provide a single water tanker. Organisations should consider fleet capacity, geographical coverage, access to water sources, driver availability, bottled water capability and the ability to coordinate sustained deliveries if an incident escalates.

For larger or water-intensive sites, maintaining continuity may require multiple tanker movements, temporary storage and a carefully managed delivery schedule.

Planning these requirements beforehand provides considerably greater certainty than trying to establish them during an interruption.

Learning from experience: protecting manufacturing continuity during a water outage

The value of planning can be seen at Lockheed Martin UK, where Water Direct supports a site-specific water resilience arrangement.

Following an assessment of the site’s requirements, a contingency plan was developed around the potential consequences of an unexpected water supply interruption and the actions required to maintain essential operations.

The arrangement gives the facilities team a defined response rather than requiring them to source an emergency solution after an incident has begun.

As Jerry Quarterman, Head of Facilities at Lockheed Martin UK, explains:

“Water is a vital resource that most businesses simply can’t do without. My advice to facilities managers would be, don’t undervalue your water supply. Take it seriously, because you can’t assume it will always be there.”

It is a simple point, but an important one. Water resilience begins with understanding what happens to your organisation when the tap stops running.

Questions to ask about your current water resilience

For facilities, operations and business continuity teams, a useful starting point is to ask:

• How long could each of our sites operate without mains water?
• Which activities would be affected first?
• How much water would we need to maintain critical operations?
• Does that water need to be potable?
• Do we have sufficient on-site storage?
• Can water tankers safely access and supply the site?
• Who would activate an emergency response?
• Do we already have an alternative water supplier in place?
• What response time have they committed to?
• Could they maintain supply during a widespread or prolonged incident?

If the answers aren’t clear, there is likely to be a gap in the organisation’s business continuity planning.

Building water resilience before an interruption

Water supply disruption cannot always be prevented. The operational consequences can, however, be planned for.

Water Direct works with organisations across the UK to assess water dependency and put appropriate contingency arrangements in place. These can include emergency water supply, bulk water delivery by tanker, temporary water storage, bottled drinking water and pre-planned contingency arrangements.

For organisations with critical water dependencies, Water Direct’s WaterTight service provides a structured approach to assessing requirements and establishing an agreed response before an incident occurs.

The aim is simple: understand the requirement, establish the response and make sure the organisation knows what to do if its normal water supply is interrupted.

Concerned about how long your organisation could operate without mains water? Speak to Water Direct about reviewing your water resilience and contingency arrangements.