EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS TO ENSURE DRINKING WATER SAFETY

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EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS TO ENSURE DRINKING WATER
SAFETY
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Presentation Agenda

• Vulnerability sensitivity of drinking water
  sources
• Health effects
• Sources of contamination
• Early Warning System -
• Definition
• Structure Function
• Design Consideration
• Data Management Interpretation
• Response
• AquaVerity - CheckLights comprehensive solution
• Components
• Competitive edge

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Vulnerability and Sensitivity of Drinking Water
Sources

• Surface water
• Runoff
• Ground water infiltration
• Ground water
• Infiltration from the surface
• Injection of contaminants
• Naturally occurring substances

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Health effects caused by contaminated source water

• Acute health effects mainly by -
• viruses
• pathogenic bacteria
• parasites
• protozoa
• cysts
• Chronic health effects mainly by -
• volatile organic chemicals (VOCs)
• inorganic chemicals (IOCs)
• synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs)

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Vulnerability Within the Distribution System

• Backpressure can cause backflow to occur when a
  potable system is connected to a non-potable
  supply operating under a higher pressure than the
  distribution system by means of a pump, boiler,
  elevation difference, air or steam pressure, or
  other means.
• Backflow is any unwanted flow of used or
  non-potable water, or other substances from any
  domestic, industrial, or institutional piping
  system back into the potable water distribution
  system.
• Cross-connections and backflow represent a
  significant public health risk (US EPA, 2000b) by
  allowing chemical and biological contaminants
  into the potable water supply (a conclusion of
  the Microbial/Disinfection Byproducts Federal
  Advisory Committee (M/DBP FACA)).
• A wide number and range of chemical and
  biological contaminants have been reported to
  enter the distribution system through
  cross-connections and backflow. Pesticides,
  sewage, antifreeze, coolants, and detergents were
  the most frequent types of contaminants reported.
  

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Sources of Contaminants with Acute and Chronic
Health Effects

• Acute
• Industrial activities
• Animal feeding operations
• Agriculture
• Septic systems and cesspools
• Chronic
• Industrial commercial activities
• Agriculture
• Landfills surface impoundments
• Urban uses

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Early Warning System (EWS) Structure Function

• An effective EWS is an integrated system for
  deploying the monitoring technology, analyzing
  and interpreting the results, and utilizing the
  results to make decisions that protect public
  health.
• An ideal contamination warning system that
  monitors toxic events in water should have the
  following features Rapid Sensitive Wide
  detection spectrum Reliable Continuous Fit
  for field testing User-friendly Inexpensive

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EWS - Core Criteria

• Currently, an EWS with all of these features does
  not exist.
• However, there are some technologies that can be
  used to build an EWS that can meet certain core
  criteria
• provide rapid response
• screen for a number of contaminants while
  maintaining sufficient sensitivity
• perform as automated systems that allow for
  remote monitoring
• Any monitoring system that does not meet these
  minimum criteria should not be considered an
  effective EWS.

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EWS Design Considerations

• There are many issues and water system
  characteristics that need to be considered when
  designing an EWS
• Planning and Communication
• System Characterization
• Target Contaminants

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Planning and Communication

• The objectives of the program should be defined
  clearly, and a plan should be developed for the-
• Interpretation
• Use
• Reporting of monitoring results.
• The plan should be developed in coordination with
  -
• The water utility
• Local and state health departments
• Emergency response units
• Law enforcement agencies
• Local political leadership

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System Characterization

• The system should be characterized with respect
  to -
• Access points
• Flow and demand patterns
• Pressure zones
• If not already available, a hydraulic model
  should be constructed.
• System vulnerabilities should be identified and
  characterized, preferably through a formal
  vulnerability assessment.

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Target Contaminants

• Even the most complex array of monitoring
  equipment cannot detect the entire spectrum of
  agents that could pose a threat to public health
  via contaminated water.
• Thus, the design of an EWS should focus on
  contaminants that are thought to pose the most
  serious threat.
• Many factors may go into this assessment,
  including
• the concentration of a particular contaminant
  that is necessary to cause harm
• the availability and accessibility of a
  contaminant
• the persistence and stability of a contaminant in
  an aqueous environment
• the difficulty associated with detecting a
  contaminant in the water

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EWS - The Tiered Approach

• A balance between the need for screening function
  of the system (i.e., the ability to detect a wide
  range of contaminants) and the need for
  specificity (i.e., the ability to positively
  identify and quantify a specific contaminant) can
  be achieved through tiered monitoring.
• First tier - continuous, real-time screen for a
  range of contaminants utilizing a broad-based
  screening technology such as assays designed to
  detect changes in toxicity.
• Second tier - a positive result from the first
  stage would trigger the second stage of
  confirmatory analysis using more specific and
  sensitive techniques.
• A positive result from the confirmatory analysis
  would trigger a response action.

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Tiered Response Model
Observed Water Quality Change (determined by
broad-based continuous screening)
Increasing Certainty Response Cost
Automated Sample Collection
Confirmation Bioassay
If positive
Chemical Analysis
If positive
Public health Regulatory or Remedial Action
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Broad Based Continuous Screening

• A major problem in the development of early
  warning water quality monitoring systems is that
  there are an almost unlimited number of potential
  contaminants that could threaten a water asset.
• While many products have been developed that
  monitor for specific contaminants or specific
  types of contaminants, it is impractical to
  design a system that can detect every potential
  threat to water quality.
• One approach is to use biological organisms as
  living "sentinels" that will warn operators of
  contamination.
• Sophisticated continuous and automatic
  biomonitors are now available that detect and
  alert whenever a notable change occurs in the
  behavior of the sensing organisms (such as,
  bacteria, fish, algae, mussels, daphnia).

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Bioassays - Applications Benefits

• Mapping to identify toxicity/concentration
  hotspots
• Selection of samples for further/more expensive
  analysis
• Mapping after pollution incidents/accidents
• While there are several different organisms that
  can be used to monitor for toxicity (including
  bacteria, invertebrates, and fish),
  bacteria-based bio-sensors are ideal for use as
  early warning screening tools for drinking water
  security because bacteria usually respond to
  toxics in a matter of minutes. EPA - Biological
  Sensors for Toxicity-Water and Wastewater
  Security Product Guide
• The Luminescent bacteria provided by CheckLight
  offer the unique advantage of both automatic and
  hand held testing capabilities.

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EWS Technology Selection

• Performance of the chosen field deployable
  monitoring technology must meet the data quality
  objectives of the monitoring program that were
  defined during the design of the EWS and include
  
• Specificity
• Sensitivity
• Accuracy
• Precision
• Recovery
• False positives/negatives rates

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Alarm Levels

• For the alarms to be triggered at the appropriate
  levels, one must identify the concentrations at
  which the agents pose a threat to human health.
• The basis for setting alarm levels will depend on
  the capability of the EWS employed.
• The alarm should be triggered by a combination of
  events, not a single detection, which may be a
  false positive.

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Sensor Location and Density

• The location and density of sensors in an EWS is
  dictated by the results of the system
  characterization, vulnerability assessment,
  threat analysis, and usage considerations.
• Proper characterization of the distribution
  system, including usage patterns, and the
  location of critical system nodes (e.g.,
  hospitals, law enforcement and emergency response
  agencies, government facilities, etc.) is
  necessary to design an effective monitoring
  network.
• However, even if sensors can be optimally located
  within a distribution system, there may not be
  sufficient time to prevent exposure of a portion
  of the public to the contaminated water.
• At best, monitoring conducted within the
  distribution system will provide time to limit
  exposure, isolate the contaminated water, and
  initiate mitigation/ remediation actions.

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Data Management, Interpretation, and Reduction

• One of the challenges of a continuous, real- time
  monitoring system is management of the large
  amounts of data that are generated.
• Use of data acquisition software and a central
  data management center is critical.
• The data management system should be capable of
  performing some level of data analysis and
  trending in order to assess whether or not an
  alarm level has been exceeded and minimize the
  rate of false alarms.
• At a minimum, the system should notify operators,
  public health agencies, and/or emergency response
  officials.
• In some cases, it may be appropriate to program
  the data management system to initiate
  preliminary response actions, such as closing
  valves or collecting additional samples. However,
  these initial responses should be considered
  simple precautionary measures, and public
  officials should make judgments regarding
  decisive response actions.
• Acknowledgement this presentation was adopted in
  part from Safeguarding The Security Of Public
  Water Supplies Using Early Warning Systems A
  Brief Review .J Hasan et al. Journal Of
  Contemporary Water Research And Education Issue
  129, Pages 27-33, October 2004.

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Response

• The possible responses when an EWS triggers an
  alarm may include-
• Modification to the drinking water system (e.g.,
  shutdown, addition of disinfectants, etc.)
• Notification (e.g., boil water advisory) either
  to the general public or to target communities or
  Subpopulations
• Additional data gathering or monitoring
• Follow-on surveillance and epidemiologic studies
• No action, or some combination of these
• The type of response will be dependent on the
  nature of both the threat to and the nature of
  the drinking water system, including the
  population it serves.

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The ETV-Verified ToxScreen Technology Serves as
the Basis for the

• AquaVerity
• The comprehensive Solution for Water Utilities to
  Ensure Drinking Water Safety and Quality

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AquaVerity Components

• CCB - Continuous Contamination Biomonitor

PCB - Portable Contamination Biomonitor
CAS - Control Analysis Software package
SIS - Solution Implementation Service package
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Tiered Response Model
Observed Water Quality Change (determined by
broad-based continuous screening)
CCB-TOC
Increasing Certainty Response Cost
Automated Sample Collection
Confirmation Bioassay
PCB-TOX SPOT
If positive
Chemical Analysis
If positive
Public health Regulatory or Remedial Action
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AquaVerity

• xxx

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CheckLights Value Proposition

• Functional Benefits
• Early detection of contamination in drinking
  water
• Enabling to pinpoint location boundaries of
  contamination sources
• Reducing direct indirect costs of illnesses
  deaths
• Saving lives, pain agony
• Reducing liability
• Emotional Benefits
• Providing a sense of safety security
• Reducing perceived risk of malpractice/liability

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CCB - Continuous Contamination Biomonitor

• For deployment in monitoring stations positioned
  at strategic locations
• Includes various monitoring models re-fill
  reagent kits (for detecting chemical biological
  contaminants)
• Easily integrated with other systems
• Suspicious samples are captured by an automatic
  sampler for further analysis
• Easy installation, operation and maintenance
• No need for adjustments due to changing
  environmental conditions
• Remotely operated controlled
• Requires minimal operator intervention

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CAS Control Analysis Software

• Enables remote operation and control of multiple
  CCB units from a control center.
• Provides tools for long term research and rapid
  response during emergency situations
• Software add-ons enable the integration and
  communication of AquaVerity with 3rd party
  devices management systems (such as SCADA/GIS).

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CAS User Interface

• Graphic display of response
• to potential heavy metal contaminants

Graphic display of response to potential organic
contaminants
Contamination alert
Instrument malfunction
All clear
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How does the AquaVerity solution compare to
competitive offers on the market?
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EWS Matrix (1)- Detection Warning Capabilities
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EWS Matrix (2)- Implementation
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EWS Matrix (3) - Cost Effectiveness
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Positioning

• Sensitive to a broad range of contamination
  sources
• Reliable
• Cost effective
• Easy to operate
• Customer oriented

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CheckLight Ltd P.O. Box 72, Qiryat Tivon
36000, Israel Tel [phone] Fax 972 4
9533176 info_at_checklight.biz
www.checklight.biz