 | Vol. 6 No. 3 Winter 1998 |
| A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs |
The "Millennium Bug" Could Cause Problems With Monitoring, Operations, Communications, Laboratory Analysis, and Reporting
Recording dates with two digits works fine until the century changes. As the next century approaches, some computers may not interpret the year 2000 as being greater than 1999 and may consider it 1900.
Embedded systems that operate continuously may present what appears to be an equipment malfunction on or about January 1, 2000. It is impossible to determine prior to the event whether the malfunction will occur. Embedded systems not in continuous use may fail to start or to operate correctly when they are first switched on in the Year 2000. Even when the application itself is date and time independent, the hardware/operating system platform on which it is based may not have this independence and may not be Year 2000 compliant.
While it is the responsibility of wastewater treatment plant owners to ensure proper operation, the EPA wants to increase awareness, encourage necessary action, and offer support. They have compiled the following list of web information sources to help treatment plant owners and operators address the Year 2000 problem:
 | www.y2k.gov | www.tricare.osd.mil/hpy2k2.html |
| www.epa.gov/year2000 | www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/y2khome.htm | |
| www.epa.gov/year2000/owpage.htm |