A storm in early April caused power outages at several Citizens Westfield and Citizens Water facilities.
By around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, Citizens Westfield Wastewater Treatment Plant, Greyhound Pass Water Treatment Plant, White River North Water Treatment Plant, 18 lift stations, and two booster stations were without power. Citizens employees worked throughout the night in hail, high winds, and rain to maintain service to all Citizens Westfield water and wastewater customers.
“We have had power outages that have affected a significant number of facilities, but never to this scale or for this amount of time,” said Ed Bukovac, Senior Manager, Engineering and Plant Operations. “Though most of the Citizens Westfield service territory was without electricity for hours, there were no service interruptions for Citizens Westfield customers.”
Citizens Westfield water and wastewater employees who were not on-call or scheduled to work came in to help with the situation. They moved generators to various locations to operate lift stations and pump water throughout the system.
In addition, Water Production employees, though dealing with their own issues from the storm, delivered a generator from a facility not impacted by the storm to the Westfield Wastewater Treatment Plant to keep the treatment process functioning and to ensure compliance with Indiana Department of Environmental Management regulations.
“The additional assistance provided by the Water Production employees during this power outage was greatly appreciated,” said Bukovac. “Overcoming this challenge is another example of how Citizens employees demonstrate one of our core values – teamwork. When resources are needed, everyone comes together, acts with urgency, and owns the situation.”