Small
community water systems face a variety of problems and challenges quite
unlike anything their larger counterparts must face. With fewer
customers to share the costs of running the system, smaller water
systems suffer from economy of scale. These utilities often struggle to
maintain water quality, water quantity, and system infrastructure.
Decreased revenue also means that
small water systems are often faced with the inability to provide
equitable pay to their operators resulting in frequent turnover and a
subsequent loss of system knowledge and experience. Adding to that
problem, small systems often cannot afford the time and resources
required to create adequate standard operating procedures for their
system. This issue can have a devastating effect on a utility as new
operators have few useful guidance documents to assist them with
learning operations, maintenance and repairs. As regulations become more
stringent and the associated technologies more complex, the need for
well developed, user friendly operating procedures becomes even more
apparent.