Emergency Generators Have Unexpected Consequences For Water Delivery

With so many automatic irrigation systems in our community, the Roslyn Water District has a concern that should another serious event present itself, emergency generators would not only provide household electricity but also activate automatic irrigation systems. The cumulative effect of these irrigation systems would seriously impact the District’s ability to generate enough power to keep the storage tanks and water pressure at acceptable levels.

According to Board Chairman, Michael J. Kosinski, “this is a classic case of good intentions having unforeseen negative consequences. However, there is a relatively simple and economical procedure to alleviate the problem. Generator installations can be equipped so as to prevent irrigation systems from operating while the generator is running. The technology and systems for accomplishing this can be easily implemented and will not interfere with normal irrigation/generator testing schedules.”

Information on installing these systems is available from your electrical contractor and/or irrigation system supplier.

Presently, the District is asking residents with installed or planned generator systems voluntarily incorporate these simple cutoffs.

In the meantime, the District, in cooperation with other water districts, town, county and government officials are working to establish a way of insuring these cutoffs are installed with all emergency generator systems.