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“EPA’s Water Security initiative : Integrating the

Water Sector and Public Health”

Wednesday June 20, 2012

Healthy and Safe Community Environments(Track 1)

Presentation Overview

• Background on the Water Security Initiative

• Conceptual design

• Partnering and Public Health

• Conclusions and Resources

Background

• Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-9– Establishes a national policy to defend the agriculture and

food system against terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies.

– Signed January 30, 2004

• HSPD-9 requires EPA to – “develop robust, comprehensive, and fully coordinated

surveillance and monitoring systems . . . for . . . water quality that provide early detection and awareness of disease, pest, or poisonous agents,”

Programmatic Approach of the Water Security Initiative

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Conceptual Design

• Large, complex, and accessible:– Commercial & residential service

connections

– Fire hydrants

– Finished water storage

• Difficult to contaminate an entire city via the distribution system, but– fairly easy to impact small

sections or individual buildings

Distribution System Vulnerabilities

Primary Design Objectives

• Detection of a broad spectrum of contaminant classes

• Achieve spatial coverage of the entire distribution system

• Detect contamination in sufficient time for effective response

• Reliably indicate a contamination incident with a minimum number of false-positives

• Provide a sustainable architecture to monitor distribution system water quality

Dual Use Objectives

• Expanded laboratory capability for emerging source water contaminants

• Enhanced knowledge of distribution system water quality leading to improved operations

• Early detection of undesirable events such as nitrification or corrosion problems

• Improved relationship with public health agencies

• Increased ability to respond effectively to a variety of emergencies

Monitoring Components

IntegratedContamination

Warning System

Enhanced security

monitoring

Water quality

monitoring

Public health

surveillance

Customer complaint

surveillance

Sampling and analysis

Phase II.Consequence Management

Remediation and Recovery restores a system to normal operations and may include:

· System characterization

· Remedial action

· Post-remediation activities

Phase I.Routine Monitoring & Surveillance

Online Water QualityCredibility Determination Actions confirm or rule out contamination and may include:

· Site Characterization

· Outside data sources

· Laboratory confirmation

Response Actions protect public health during the investigation process and may include:

· Isolation

· Flushing

· Public alerts/notifications

Public Health

Sampling and Analysis

Enhanced Security

Customer Complaints

· Event Detection

· Initial Trigger Validation

PossibleDetermination

System Architecture

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Partnering and Public Health

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Partner Organizations

WaterUtility

Local Emergency Planning Committees

Local Fire, EMS, and HazMat

Local Health Department

Local Law Enforcement

Local Civil Government

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention

EPA National Response Center

Neighboring Utilities

EPA Regional Offices

State Emergency Responders

State Government

Public Health and Environmental Laboratories

State Drinking and Waste Water Primacy Agencies

State Law Enforcement

Media

State Emergency Management

and Homeland Security

Agencies

Local Wastewater Utility

Host Facilities

EPA Criminal Investigation Division

Public Health Surveillance

Surveillance Tool Description

911 CallsCalls from customers filtered by health incident categories – analyzed by time and location.

EMS RunsEMS responses to customers– categorized by EMS technician assessment (i.e., symptom categories).

PCC CallsCalls from customers– case-specific assessments.

ED VisitsCustomer visits to emergency departments to seek medical assistance – categorized by chief complaint.

Primary Care Physician/ED

Physician Disease Reporting

Calls made to health departments or PCC by primary care physicians or ED physicians reporting unusual or unexpected cases and/or symptoms.

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Public Health Surveillance

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A PHS alert is detected; email alert sent to User’s

Group

The PHS alert is analyzed by User’s Group entities

and determined valid and without known cause (i.e., contaminated water cannot

be ruled out)

A User’s Group Participant activates the

communicator, which sends out messages to

User’s Group

User’s Group receives message and each entity analyzes pertinent data

User’s Group convene on conference call to

discuss alarm

PHS Communicator Protocol

*This is an example of a communication protocol (used in Cincinnati)*The User's Group for the Cincinnati Pilot included the local public health departments, poison control, water utility, fire department, US EPA, and FBI.

Public Health Surveillance

15(Based on Feedback from the Cincinnati Pilot User’s Group)

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Conclusions to Date

 ● The Water Security initiative contamination warning system

design is technically feasible for a utility to deploy and sustainable for a utility to operate

● Public Health Surveillance exemplifies the need for partnering

○ Evaluating alerts requires coordination

● A major future challenge will be promoting national adoption of drinking water contamination warning systems

○ All utilities can benefit from development of plans and procedures to utilize the data already being collected more effectively for contaminant detection

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Community-Based Water Resiliency Initiative

• Increases community preparedness by:– Improving integration of Water Sector into community emergency preparedness

– Increasing understanding of critical interdependencies

– Highlighting benefits of preparedness

• Fosters collaboration between utilities and all community members:

– City/county managers

– Public works officials

– Emergency responders

– Business community

– Citizens

• Electronic tool gives communities over 400 resources to develop and implement water resiliency plans

• Website: http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/communities/index.cfm

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Published Documents

• Available on the Water Security initiative website:

http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/lawsregs/initiative.cfm

1. WaterSentinel System Architecture, EPA-817-D-05-003, December 2005

2. Water Security Initiative: Interim Guidance on Planning for Contamination Warning System Deployment, EPA-817-R07-005, May 2007

3. Water Security Initiative: Interim Guidance on Developing an Operational Strategy for Contamination Warning Systems, EPA-817-R-08-002, September 2008

4. Water Security Initiative: Interim Guidance on Developing Consequence Management Plans for Drinking Water Utilities, EPA-817-R-08-001, September 2008

5. Water Security Initiative: Cincinnati Pilot Post-Implementation System Status, EPA-817-R-08-004, September 2008

• Available in the Journal of the American Water Works Association:

1. Optimizing operational reliability of the Cincinnati contamination warning system, J. AWWA, Volume 103, Issue 1, January 2011

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Questions?

• For more information on the Water Security Initiative:– http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/lawsregs/

initiative.cfm

• US EPA, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Water Security Division

Chrissy Dangel, MPHPhone 513-569-7821

E-Mail dangel.chrissy@epa.gov

CAPT Nelson Mix, PE, CHMM