TY - JOUR
T1 - Water safety plan enhancements with improved drinking water quality detection techniques
AU - Gunnarsdottir, Maria
AU - Gardarsson, Sigurdur M.
AU - Figueras, Maria J.
AU - Puigdomènech, Clàudia
AU - Juárez, Rubén
AU - Saucedo, Gemma
AU - Arnedo, M. José
AU - Santos, Ricardo
AU - Monteiro, Silvia
AU - Avery, Lisa
AU - Pagaling, Eulyn
AU - Allan, Richard
AU - Abel, Claire
AU - Eglitis, Janis
AU - Hambsch, Beate
AU - Hügler, Michael
AU - Rajkovic, Andreja
AU - Smigic, Nada
AU - Udovicki, Bozidar
AU - Albrechtsen, Hans-Jörgen
AU - López-Avilés, Alma
AU - Hunter, Paul
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - Drinking water quality has been regulated in most European countries for nearly two decades by the drinking water directive 98/83/EC. The directive is now under revision with the goal of meeting stricter demands for safe water for all citizens, as safe water has been recognized as a human right by the United Nations. An important change to the directive is the implementation of a risk-based approach in all regulated water supplies. The European Union Framework Seventh Programme Aquavalens project has developed several new detection technologies for pathogens and indicators and tested them in water supplies in seven European countries. One of the tasks of the project was to evaluate the impact of these new techniques on water safety and on water safety management. Data were collected on risk factors to water safety for five large supplies in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the UK, and for fifteen small water supplies in Scotland, Portugal and Serbia, via a questionnaire aiming to ascertain risk factors and the stage of implementation of Water Safety Plans, and via site-specific surveys known as Sanitary Site Inspection. Samples were collected from the water supplies from all stages of water production to delivery. Pathogens were detected in around 23% of the 470 samples tested. Fecal contamination was high in raw water and even in treated water at the small supplies. Old infrastructure was considered a challenge at all the water supplies. The results showed that some of the technique, if implemented as part of the water safety management, can detect rapidly the most common waterborne pathogens and fecal pollution indicators and therefore have a great early warning potential; can improve water safety for the consumer; can validate whether mitigation methods are working as intended; and can confirm the quality of the water at source and at the tap.
AB - Drinking water quality has been regulated in most European countries for nearly two decades by the drinking water directive 98/83/EC. The directive is now under revision with the goal of meeting stricter demands for safe water for all citizens, as safe water has been recognized as a human right by the United Nations. An important change to the directive is the implementation of a risk-based approach in all regulated water supplies. The European Union Framework Seventh Programme Aquavalens project has developed several new detection technologies for pathogens and indicators and tested them in water supplies in seven European countries. One of the tasks of the project was to evaluate the impact of these new techniques on water safety and on water safety management. Data were collected on risk factors to water safety for five large supplies in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the UK, and for fifteen small water supplies in Scotland, Portugal and Serbia, via a questionnaire aiming to ascertain risk factors and the stage of implementation of Water Safety Plans, and via site-specific surveys known as Sanitary Site Inspection. Samples were collected from the water supplies from all stages of water production to delivery. Pathogens were detected in around 23% of the 470 samples tested. Fecal contamination was high in raw water and even in treated water at the small supplies. Old infrastructure was considered a challenge at all the water supplies. The results showed that some of the technique, if implemented as part of the water safety management, can detect rapidly the most common waterborne pathogens and fecal pollution indicators and therefore have a great early warning potential; can improve water safety for the consumer; can validate whether mitigation methods are working as intended; and can confirm the quality of the water at source and at the tap.
KW - CONTAMINATION
KW - Drinking water safety
KW - FRANCE
KW - Risk factors in water supply
KW - UTILITIES
KW - Water safety plan performance
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134185
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134185
M3 - Article
VL - 698
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 134185
ER -