Monday, August 24, 2026 / Eugene
Saturday's water drill comes with a 25-pound take-home lesson
EWEB's Howard Elementary open house lets families practice at an emergency water station and offers one free 3-gallon container while supplies last.
A filled 3-gallon water container weighs about 25 pounds. That concrete fact is built into EWEB's Saturday open house at Howard Elementary, where families can practice filling a container and see how an emergency water station operates.
The event runs from 9 to 11 a.m. Aug. 29. EWEB says each family can receive one free 3-gallon storage container while supplies last and recommends bringing a wagon or grocery cart for the trip back to the car. Family activities and home-preparedness information are also planned.
Eugene has seven emergency water stations for major disruptions. Their water is not ready for routine drinking straight from the tap: EWEB says it must be disinfected before use, and the open house is practice rather than an active emergency distribution.
Field notes
What changed: EWEB and 4J scheduled a public practice session at the Howard Elementary emergency water station for Saturday morning.
Why it matters: Practicing before an outage turns an unfamiliar emergency system into a known route, container and disinfection task.
Who may be affected: Eugene households preparing for a major water-system disruption.