Group 1 The Dinos Bozeman,Montana

1

• Group 1 The Dinos Bozeman,Montana
• May 12, 2004

2

• Countries represented
• - USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, South
  Africa, Scotland, Germany
• Definition represents global perspective
• Challenges defining Small Water Systems
• Protecting public health in water systems
  with limited capacity and ability to achieve
  viability. Systems small in size are those that
  most often fall into this definition.

3
Two Complementary Quality Management Approaches

• Process Quality Assurance (QA)
• Water Safety Plan
• Guaranteed process performance
• Product Quality Control (QC)
• Measure against standards (e.g., U.S. Model)
• Both approaches mandatory for ensuring safe
  drinking water

4
Consensus Statements

• Re-emphasize public health is purpose of water
  quality management
• Strong government involvement
• Enable the community, recruit a local cartel
  community involvement
• Pay attention to cultural issues, engage women
• Identify the chain of command

5
Management QA/QC Components of Water Systems

• The Catchment (Watershed)
• The Treatment Facilities
• The Reticulation (distribution system)
• The Users system
• The User

6
Management QA Health Risks Source (catchment)
related

• May be more likely in agricultural and rural
  environments (animals agri-chemicals)
• Assumption that groundwater is safe without
  proper assessment/recognition. Insufficient
  chemical assessment (geochemical constituents).
• Supplier may not realize that raw water quality
  can degrade over time
• Less likely to have resources to find another
  source
• Unaware of the factors affecting quality of the
  source water

7
Management QATreatment facility related

• Management operational skills may be
  insufficient to ensure reliable operation
• Lack of access to relevant information, training,
  and education (competency)
• Treatment may be insufficient (e.g., surface
  waters without filtration)

8
Management QAReticulation (distribution) related

• Contamination of finished water (e.g., storage
  reservoirs)
• Cross-connections back flow
• Regrowth
• Corrosion (e.g., lead, copper, nickel)
• Disinfectant residuals and by-products

9
Management QAUser system related

• Part of overall system, but outside suppliers
  control
• Contaminants introduced in home (e.g. Cross
  connections, roof tanks, backflows, irrigation)
• Point of use (POU) and point of entry (POE)
  devices management issues?

10
Management QAUser related

• Community demographics are reflected in small
  communities. There may be proportionally larger
  susceptible populations, particularly the elderly
  and children as well as the immunocompromised
• Lack of access to health care may be greater in
  smaller communities.
• Social, lifestyle, and cultural factors may add
  to health risks
• Tourism impacts, harvesting brings an increase in
  transient populations and affects small
  communities to a greater extent

11
Management QAGeneral Issues

• Are less likely to be included in regional
  networking, decision-making, and planning
• Inability to affect the management of the
  watershed

12
Management QAManagement Issues

• Not enough realization of risks to the
  distribution system
• Complacency and limited understanding of public
  health risk
• Cost of monitoring per household affordability
  and willingness-to-pay are issues
• Communication between lab, utility, regulatory
  agency, health agency,and community may be
  limited.

13
Management QAManagement Issues

• Personnel lack adequate training
• Frequent management and operator turnover
• Water is not important agenda for community
  leaders unless problem arises.

14
Management QAManagement Issues

• No process for event handling (limited ability to
  cope with unexpected events)
• Lack of understanding of public health value of
  monitoring and maintaining data
• As regulatory agency assume responsibilities for
  quality of water, system personnel become less
  engaged
• Affordability and willingness to pay for
  increased costs

15
Management QCMicrobiological Issues

• Microbiological risks are of greater concern
  because of the acute nature of the risk.
• Microbiological monitoring is a more proximate
  need than chemical monitoring.
• Monitoring should be tailored to the health risks
  associated with the situation and the system
• Timely data analysis is important

16
Management QA/QCChemical

• Inadequate analysis of groundwater hydrogeology
• Inadequate characterization of the
  hydrogeochemistry
• Chemical analyses neglected since health effects
  may appear over longer exposure

17
Research Needs

• Need evidence of public health risk related to
  water quality indicators
• Research efforts for small systems should focus
  on operations and treatment.
• Research should address whether small systems are
  more at risk and need to include them in surveys
  in research projects. Antibiotic resistance
  (rural agricultural waters) is one area of
  concern.

18
Research Needs

• To develop and assess automated and simple
  systems that are designed to be run with minimal
  skill.
• Develop better low cost monitoring approaches,
  including indicator parameters and sensor
  technology, with greater ability for rapid
  results. Rapid detection of cyanobacterial
  toxins.

19
Recommendations

• Developing better systems of disease surveillance
  relevant to small systems
• Develop Focus groups which will be important to
  helping to understand the populations view on
  water.
• A Process for the communication needs to engage
  as much of the served community as possible give
  the local people some power over the situation
  and think beyond communication and include
  education programs.
• As attention to water is often Event driven
  Need emergency response plans but with problem
  solving strategy.

20
Recommendations

• Water Safety Plans and guidelines for small
  systems are needed. Greater attention to
  evaluation of the physical units (multiple
  barrier concept, source, treatment, distribution)
  and these should be weighted them equally to
  monitoring.
• As monitoring costs are high per household the
  monitoring scheme should have some flexibility
  and be tailored for these systems.
• Evaluate lower cost systems eg H2S systems.
• Partnerships between small and large systems for
  monitoring are needed, to reduce the economic
  impact of the cost of monitoring for pathogens.
  As monitoring moves forward for larger systems
  for biological parameters eg. pathogens (viruses
  and parasites) small systems should partner with
  these utilities to be included in the monitoring.

21
Recommendations

• Need for Developing a Guidance manual on
  technology for small systems.
• Need a business plan that addresses assessment
  and turnover of personnel.
• Need a specific review with someone experienced
  in small systems needs
• Cost-savings approaches need to be used, with
  demonstration that these final solutions apply.
  Performance testing. Eg. that for small
  systems engineering alternatives, not involving
  excess capital costs with approximate costs, when
  an alternative that reduces eng fees, the
  un-incurred capital costs could be added to the
  fees as incentives. Life-cycle costs included.
  Eng fees must be separated from the capital
  costs.

22
Recommendations

• Consolidation/cooperation is encouraged when it
  makes economic sense
• Requires Champion(s)
• Market research on public awareness of small
  water system issues goal is to raise public
  awareness