New York Rural Water Association

There are very few things in this world that are totally and completely out of our control, the weather is one of those that falls into this category. It effects our daily lives in many ways and is constantly under our scrutiny. Most people can be content to get the forecast on the radio or television and make adjustments to their daily schedules accordingly. Then there are the others, like those of us in DPW, Water and Wastewater operations that depend more heavily on accurate and up-to-date weather information. Here in Upstate New York, seasonal weather changes can be extreme and the effects of these daily variations in the weather can effect our day to day operations adversely. Temperature, wind, and precipitation may require many of you to make adjustments to your day to day plant operations. The weather can effect turbidity, chlorination, and many chemical feed settings at various types of water treatment facilities. Most of you wear many different hats during the course of the day, meaning that you have responsibilities above and beyond plant operations. Snow-removal, drainage, and run-off problems can all be time consuming, making accurate weather information critical to planning your daily schedule. Sub-zero temperatures here in upstate New York means that facilities and equipment have to be protected from freezing in winter, while the heat of summer may require attention to ventilation and air-conditioning. It is probably safe to assume that a lot of us have more than a casual interest in daily weather conditions and the ways and means that we monitor daily weather conditions. The good news is that in this day and age of technological marvels, we have many tools at our disposal to monitor and record daily weather conditions. Many of the facilities I visit during the course of my travels throughout New York State, have weather monitoring stations of one type or another. These stations may be as simple as a mercury thermometer and a rain-gauge, or as complex as a complete electronic state-of-the-art weather station that records temperature, wind speed, barometric pressure, humidity, and precipitation. Chances are that if you do not monitor and record weather conditions at present, you probably should in the future. These records can be useful in identifying trends that effect your water treatment operations. There are also many good Internet sites that deal with weather conditions and live weather conditions in your area. If you are online at your plant or office consider these sites for live updates:

www.nws.noaa.gov
www.weather.com
www.usatoday.com/weather/wfront.htm
http://weather.psu.edu/weather/home.htmlFor weather monitoring instruments and equipment check out the following sites:Davis Weather Stations
www.davisnet.comRainWise
www.rainwise.comThe Weather Shop
www.weathershop.com

For those of you who are not online and might be interested in purchasing a weather station you can find some of this equipment in the USA Bluebook, Grainger Catalog, and Cabela’s Catalog. Remember the weather effects all of us to varying degrees and by staying on top of current weather conditions, you can probably improve your chances of having a more productive workday.