​In an effort to keep our staff healthy, and the operators of Ohio healthy, we will be temporarily limiting our on-site technical assistance to essential issues. Many of you have already taken measures to only allow essential individuals on the premises, and we support those decisions.

We strongly encourage you all to have your Operation Manual up to date and readily available in the plant in the event that an operator becomes ill and cannot be there to keep the facility operational.

ORWA also recommends all water and wastewater utilities:

1) Review the latest information provided by the CDC and other reputable sources
2) Take all Precautions to keep your staff healthy
3) Review & Update your Contingency Plans (especially operator absences) 
4) Consider establishing aid agreements with neighboring utilities (like OHWARN)

Our goal is to help Ohio's rural water & wastewater systems keep these essential services functional during this time of uncertainty and safeguard operators as best we can.

We will be here to assist the Rural Water Community, and together we will make it through this,

Under the President's National Emergency Declaration, local governments are eligible to apply for public assistance and potential reimbursement for expenditures related to COVID-19 response through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
You can find more about eligibility (list of potential items/services reimbursable) and how to access the reimbursement here: https://citiesspeak.org/2020/03/20/seeking-fema-assistance-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Resources

Ohio EPA's: Essential Employees Guidance

ORWA's: Informal Mutual Aid Agreement template

Wright State University's: Water System Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza (Continuity of Operations Plan Template on Pages 60-88)

CDC's: Printable Flyers on COVID-19

Water.org's: How to Make Distilled Water

Ohio WARN's: Operational Plan

Ohio EPA's: Contingency Plan template

EPA's: Incident Action Checklist

CIAS's: Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response

Sample Essential Critical Workforce Letter

Vehicle Decontamination

​Office Decontamination

Information

OEPA's: Division of Drinking and Ground Water’s response and guidance to COVID-19

CDC's: Videos on COVID-19
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CDC's: Drinking Water & Wastewater: What to Know Information Page

Johns Hopkins': GIS COVID-19 Tracking Map

Governor DeWine's: Daily Live Press Conferences (usually around 2:00-3:00 PM)

NRWA's: COVID-19 Information Page

OAWWA's: Public Water System Operational Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

AWWA's: Utility Actions to Sustain Operations During COVID-19 Webinar

OWEA's: COVID-19 Resources Page