New Mailing Address for Payments: PO Box 35113, Seattle, WA 98124-5113
Home > Explore > How-to Tips > Prepare for Emergencies
The people served by Alderwood Water & Wastewater District (AWWD) live in a beautiful and unique region. Many of us choose to live here for the beauty of nature, the strong community, and recreational opportunities. A less obvious trait of our region is our vulnerability to many hazards.
The Washington State Emergency Management Division lists the following hazards for our beautiful state:
AWWD does prepare, plan, and train our staff to respond to these disasters. We have emergency plans for staffing, emergency repair work, and we are working with local emergency planning partners for emergency water supply distribution.
In our emergency planning we recognize that much of our infrastructure is well protected and can withstand many disasters, however, it is not 100% immune. Our infrastructure, the water and sewer pipes in the ground can be damaged. Other disasters impact our staff preventing them from getting to work.
We have emergency plans, our employees have family plans, and we recommend you should have emergency plans. There are a variety of resources available.
An excellent website to get you started is the Washington State Emergency Management Division. They have put together a plan that you can use to start your emergency planning and supplies.
In the next sections we will focus on emergency preparedness for water and wastewater.
Experts are now recommending a two week supply of food and water for households and businesses in Washington State.
A variety of sources (Red Cross, FEMA, Emergency Management, etc.) recommend one gallon per person per day in your household, for a two week supply of water. That does not include water for pets, hygiene, or cleaning.
In a disaster situation, particularly an earthquake, it is likely that the sewer system will be damaged and severely limits its ability to handle any volume of waste. Public health authorities may require homeowners and others to find alternative sanitation plans while the sewer system is damaged. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has information about what you and your family can do in these situations.
Popular Resources
FAQs
How much water should I store?
Experts are now recommending a two week supply of food and water for households and businesses in Washington State. A variety of sources (Red Cross, FEMA, Emergency
Management, etc.) recommend one gallon per person per day in your household, for a two week supply of water. That does not include water for pets, hygiene, or cleaning.
How do I address sanitation?
In a disaster situation, particularly an earthquake, it is likely that the sewer system will be damaged and severely limits its ability to handle any volume of waste. Public health authorities may require homeowners and others to find alternative sanitation plans while the sewer
system is damaged. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had information about you and your family can do in these situations. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/sanitation/sanitation-emergency-response.html
