When a natural disaster hits, such as the recent Superstorm Sandy, many utilities are knocked out in residential areas. Electricity is the most common service to go down, but what happens less often is water service being disrupted. It's nothing short of remarkable that many places, urban and rural, are able to keep water flowing to and from our homes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and during all manner of weather and seasons.

EPA has released the Containment and Disposal of Large Amounts of Contaminated Water: A Support Guide for Water Utilities. The guide serves as a reference document for the preparation and response to a contamination event when rapid decision making is needed. It provides recommendations primarily to drinking water, wastewater and stormwater utilities following an all-hazard chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) contamination event. Secondary users of the guide are decision makers involved with planning and disposal at the federal, state, local and tribal levels.

For over five years the defendant provided false water sampling to customers

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – On Tuesday, October 23, 2012, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Linda Knox, 50, of Marshall, N.C., to 33 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release for committing mail fraud, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Reidinger also ordered Knox to pay $22,056 as restitution to victims.