Critical Care

It is important to Easton Suburban Water Authority to serve the water needs of all customers. Certain customers have special needs requiring a continuous water supply for medical, environmental, or other needs. In the event of an emergency, certain people at your location may need to be contacted immediately who may not be the contact person for routine business matters.
  • Critical Care Customer Policy
  • Definition of a Critical Care Need
  • Notification Process
  • Questions

It is important to us to serve the water needs of all of our customers. However, some customers have special needs that require a continuous supply of water for medical, environmental or other reasons. An interruption to that water supply could have serious consequences.

To prevent such a situation from occurring, Easton Suburban Water Authority has established a policy for identifying and addressing the needs of Critical Care customers. The purpose of this policy is to convey in written form the criteria required to become a customer of Critical Care status, as well as the procedure that will be followed to address the needs of those approved as Critical Care customers.

For purposes of this policy, a critical care need for water is defined in three levels:

-- CRITICAL
Means that a continuous supply of potable water is necessary in order to maintain life and/or public health or safety. Life support systems, kidney dialysis facilities, hospitals and surgical centers are examples of customers who qualify for "Critical" status.

-- HIGH PRIORITY
Means that a continuous supply of potable water is important to the facility's operation, but not essential for maintaining life. High priority status also carries with it an implication that there may be severe financial impact if a lack of water supply were to extend for longer than 24 hours. Physician's offices, dentists, oral surgeons, extended care facilities and nursing homes typically qualify as High Priority customers. In addition, factories and other industrial facilities whose operations are so water intensive that a lack of water supply could cause a significant financial loss, also qualify for High Priority status.

-- PRIORITY
Refers to customers that need or use water during their normal operation to care for or serve others, but not in a life sustaining manner. Priority customers include schools, daycare centers, restaurants, hair salons, fitness facilities, car washes, and so on.

Customers who believe they would qualify for one of the three critical care status levels above must contact the Easton Suburban Water Authority to register their critical care need. To register, customers must complete the Critical Care Customer Registration Form stating the need, the status level they are requesting and all contact information required to reach them during normal business and non-business hours in the event of an emergency. Click "Critical Care Customer Registration Form" for a printer friendly version of the form. Although the customer is asked to indicate the status level desired, Easton Suburban Water Authority will make the final determination if a priority status is warranted and what that level should be. All notification forms must be returned to the Easton Suburban Water Authority office located at 3700 Hartley Avenue, P.O. Box 3819, Easton, PA 18043-3819.

Upon determination of a customer's Critical Care status, Easton Suburban Water Authority will add the customer and all applicable contact information to a special Critical Care Customer database. It is the customer's responsibility to make sure the contact information on file, including phone numbers, beeper numbers and email addresses are accurate and up to date at all times. Customers are asked to check the information on file annually and update it more frequently if necessary.

Customers with Critical Care status also will have a priority communication status. In the event of a planned water outage that limits or eliminates water supply to a Critical Care status home or business, Easton Suburban Water Authority will attempt to provide the customer with advance notification before the service interruption occurs. That notification may occur in the form of a letter, phone call or email during normal business hours.

In the event there is an emergency situation that has an immediate affect on the quality of potable water, Easton Suburban Water Authority will attempt to personally notify all Critical Care customers involved during or after normal business hours. Authority personnel will communicate as regularly as possible with the customer to keep them updated on the situation. That notification will occur whenever warranted in the form of a phone call, text message or email.

Advanced and/or personal notification regarding water emergencies may not always be possible. In the event that notification of a water-related situation isn't possible in advance or via personal notification, all Critical Care customers will be expected to strictly adhere to any and all instructions provided via mass media (i.e., radio, television, newspapers and www.eswater.net) by Easton Suburban Water Authority.

For more information about the Critical Care Customer Policy, contact the Easton Suburban Water Authority at 610-258-7181. Click Critical Care Customer Policy for a printer-friendly version of the policy.