Drinking Water Quality Management Research Articles

Potable water boiling can induce havoc in the water quality management arena due to the presence of microplastics

Around 30 % of the world’s population lacks access to safe water despite being a critical factor that modulates the complex dynamics of ecosystems and societies. Efficient technologies to purify water to potable form are either inaccessible or economically not viable for the majority. Water poverty and scarcity can be potentially exacerbated by the recent, widespread detection of plastics in drinking water sources, tap water and groundwater. This can induce various emerging bottle necks in global drinking water quality management. One of the most affordable disinfection techniques practiced across the world is to boil the water. Plastic pollutants in potable water sources can pose emerging water quality management bottlenecks, including leaching additives and chemicals due to water boiling. Exposure to plastic leachates in drinking water can lead to potential health risks, including oxidative stress, cancers, endocrine disruption, cardiovascular diseases, and developmental effects. The current global drinking water scenario and the emerging impacts of plastic pollutants specifically micro- and nano-plastics in drinking water, are also enlisted. Further, evidence-based prospects for drinking water quality management and impacts on one health initiative in the wake of the presence of plastics are discussed. Monitoring and surveillance, improved water treatment, and infrastructure incorporating technological innovations explicitly focusing on plastic pollutants in drinking water can ensure sustainable management and mitigation of the ill effects to a satisfactory extent. The need for firm policy instruments, partnerships between various private and public stakeholders, and the judicious use and management of potable water are contented in this article, which will steer humanity and the earth system toward achieving one health mandate and a sustainable future.

QPCR-Based Monitoring of 2-Methylisoborneol/Geosmin-Producing Cyanobacteria in Drinking Water Reservoirs in South Korea.

Cyanobacteria can exist in water resources and produce odorants. 2-Methylisoborneol (2-MIB) and geosmin are the main odorant compounds affecting the drinking water quality in reservoirs. In this study, encoding genes 2-MIB (mic, monoterpene cyclase) and geosmin (geo, putative geosmin synthase) were investigated using newly developed primers for quantitative PCR (qPCR). Gene copy numbers were compared to 2-MIB/geosmin concentrations and cyanobacterial cell abundance. Samples were collected between July and October 2020, from four drinking water sites in South Korea. The results showed similar trends in three parameters, although the changes in the 2-MIB/geosmin concentrations followed the changes in the mic/geo copy numbers more closely than the cyanobacterial cell abundances. The number of odorant gene copies decreased from upstream to downstream. Regression analysis revealed a strong positive linear correlation between gene copy number and odorant concentration for mic (R2 = 0.8478) and geo (R2 = 0.601). In the analysis of several environmental parameters, only water temperature was positively correlated with both mic and geo. Our results demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring 2-MIB/geosmin occurrence using qPCR of their respective synthase genes. Odorant-producing, gene-based qPCR monitoring studies may contribute to improving drinking water quality management.

Drinking water quality management progress in Ontario, two decades after Walkerton.

Following the waterborne disease outbreak in Walkerton, Ontario, the province made significant efforts to implement recommendations of the public inquiry that resulted. As Ontario reformed its drinking water sector, other jurisdictions were advancing risk-based quality management frameworks for drinking water, including the World Health Organization (WHO) through its water safety plan (WSP) framework. Two decades after the Walkerton tragedy, this paper seeks to: (i) evaluate alignment of Ontario's Drinking Water Quality Management Standard (DWQMS) with the WSP framework (ii) review readily available data for evidence that Ontario's DWQMS implementation has improved drinking water safety and promoted a preventive approach through risk-based quality management. Our study found strong alignment between the Ontario DWQMS and WSP frameworks, with supporting programmes and risk assessment procedures present. Analysis of available regulatory data revealed abundant reporting of water quality and adverse incidents in municipal water systems. However, performance data were publicly available, the use of percentage scores for water quality testing obscures the details of system performance and water safety. Reports describing the DWQMS plan and audit results were difficult to obtain and not standardized. There is a need to develop mechanisms to ensure continual improvement of the DWQMS.

Supporting the implementation of drinking water management systems in New South Wales, Australia.

Since 2010, New South Wales (NSW) Health has assisted local water utilities to develop and implement risk-based drinking water management systems based on the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines Framework for Management of Drinking Water Quality. This support has benefited regional communities, and especially smaller utilities, by helping to identify and control risks. NSW Health's support projects have resulted in statistically significant improvements across many elements of drinking water management system implementation. Through this program of support, NSW Health has identified possible infrastructure and operational needs and assessed implementation of drinking water management systems. In parallel, NSW Health has worked to assess the risk from Cryptosporidium in drinking water supplies and to develop a formal audit program. Findings from the NSW Health support program informed the development of two NSW Government programs and the commitment of more than $1 billion to help local water utilities address public health and other critical needs. The introduction of risk-based drinking water management systems has driven incremental improvement in drinking water quality management across the state of NSW.

Assessment of the water sources for potential channels of faecal contamination within Vhembe District Municipality using sanitary inspections and hydrogen sulphide test

Numerous human activities and poor sanitation management cause public health concern, particularly in rural communities without reliable water supply systems and resources for the monitoring of the quality of their water sources. This study assessed the relationship between observed sanitary risks and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) strip test results in the identification of faecal contamination of various water sources used at household level in rural areas of the Vhembe District Municipality. The highest percentage sanitary risk scores ranging from 50 to 100% were recorded for both river and dam water commonly used by the households for multiple purposes, including drinking. All the surface water samples (100%) also tested positive for H2S production, which is linked to the contamination of water sources by bacteria of faecal origin. The overall results showed a significant and positive correlation (r = 0.623, p = 0.003 in the wet season and r = 0.504, p = 0.017 in the dry season) between sanitary risk scores and H2S strip test results. In low resource settings, the use of sanitary inspections combined with the inexpensive and easy-to-use H2S strip tests can be effective as drinking water quality management tools to raise an awareness among community members of the faecal contamination of their water sources.

Investigating Full-Scale Distribution System Flushing Practices for Better Drinking Water Quality Management

Investigating Full-Scale Distribution System Flushing Practices for Better Drinking Water Quality Management

The Municipal Water Quality Investigations Program: A Retrospective Overview of the Program’s First Three Decades

This paper presents the history and evolution of the California Department of Water Resources’ Municipal Water Quality Investigations (MWQI) program. This program tracks source water quality in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) for drinking water supply for nearly two-thirds of California. The program provides early warning of changing conditions in source water quality, provides data and knowledge-based support for operational decision making, and provides scientific support to a variety of urban water users. This retrospective (i) documents program formation, (ii) describes its evolution in response to regulations and technological advances in water treatment and field monitoring, and (iii) notes how the development of federal drinking water quality regulations such as the Disinfection By-Products Rule impacted the program. The MWQI program is believed to be the first drinking water supply program in the United States to conduct continuous, real-time monitoring of organic carbon, bromide, and other anions and to report these data on the internet. In addition to its regular use for operational decision making, the data may be used for evaluating long-term trends and responses to specific changes in the Delta and its watershed. Future program directions will likely be guided by factors that may trigger changes in treatment plant processes and operations, such as emerging contaminants, changes in land and water management practices, permanent Delta island flooding, sea level rise, and climate change. While this retrospective focuses on one region, its multi-decade interplay of science, treatment and monitoring technology, and regulations (as well as practical aspects of managing such a large-scale program) are broadly relevant to professionals engaged in drinking water quality management in other urbanized and developed regions of the world.

Comparing Corrosion Control Treatments for Drinking Water Using a Robust Bayesian Generalized Additive Model

Pipe loop studies are used to evaluate corrosion control treatment, and updated regulatory guidance will ensure that they remain important for drinking water quality management. But the data they generate are difficult to analyze: nonlinear time trends, nondetects, extreme values, and autocorrelation are common attributes that make popular methods, such as the t- or rank-sum tests, poor descriptive models. Here, we propose a framework for describing pipe loop data that accommodates all of these challenging attributes: a robust Bayesian generalized additive model with continuous-time autoregressive errors. Our approach facilitates corrosion control treatment comparisons without the need for imputing nondetects or special handling of outliers. It is well suited to describing nonlinear trends without overfitting, and it accounts for the reduced information content in autocorrelated time series. We demonstrate it using a 4-year pipe loop study, with multiple pipe configurations and orthophosphate dosing protocols, finding that an initially high dose of orthophosphate (2 mg P L–1) that is subsequently lowered (0.75 mg P L–1) can yield lower lead release than an intermediate dose (1 mg P L–1) in the long term. Water utilities face difficult trade-offs in applying orthophosphate for corrosion control, and better models of pipe loop data can help inform the decision-making process.

Tools for monitoring toxicological and genotoxicological changes in a drinking water treatment plant in Northeast Italy

AbstractDrinking water quality can be compromised at different stages, from raw water to treated one. This research aimed to evaluate the toxicity and genotoxicity of groundwater contaminated by fluorinated compounds treated in a drinking water treatment plant, through several bioassays. Water samples underwent chemical analyses and were assayed on Daphnia magna, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Allium cepa, human leukocytes and Salmonella typhimurium. Physical–chemical parameters were always within the Italian legislation limits. Water after filtration and disinfection caused slight toxicity in D. magna; the sample after filtration inhibited the proliferation of P. subcapitata. None of the water samples exerted toxicity in A. cepa. All the analysed samples had genotoxic effects on A. cepa and human leucocytes, while only disinfected water caused mutations in S. typhimurium. A battery composed of tests on D. magna, P. subcapitata, S. typhimurium and A. cepa could represent a useful tool to verify the toxicity/genotoxicity through the water treatment stages and to improve drinking water quality management.

Considerations for new manganese analytical techniques for drinking water quality management

AbstractManganese (Mn) is a contaminant of emerging concern in drinking water, as recent epidemiologic evidence suggests an association between Mn exposure in drinking water and negative neurodevelopmental effects. The nature of Mn events in distribution systems can be sporadic and difficult to predict, with conventional laboratory methods being limited in their ability to provide the flexible on‐line Mn monitoring. Emerging methods such as colorimetric and electrochemical methods offer advantages for monitoring as they have potential to be less expensive, rapid, and readily deployed in the field. These emerging methods, however, face hurdles to adaptation and acceptance including demonstration of sufficient accuracy, precision, sensitivity and yet‐to‐be resolved issues with interfering agents. These hurdles are not insurmountable, and investment is warranted in these novel methods to address pressing needs by the water industry to protect human health. This review paper highlights the opportunities and advantages of advancing field‐testing techniques for Mn management.

Amplification of Environmental Appraisal Coordination at General Hospital Lahore and its Implications to Evaluate Management Review

Quality standards have been a significant achievement for organizations worldwide. Environmental standardsshould be established in hospitals by coding ISO14001. Hospital water pollution can cause health issues in nearby urbanareas and settlements. The study was aimed to estimate, characterize, use, and response to water quality parameters onamplification of environmental coordination at General Hospital Lahore (GHL), and their implications for evaluation inmanagement reviewing. For these purposes, the drinking water samples were collected from different locations in thestudy area. All these samples were analyzed for different water quality parameters namely, pH, TDS, turbidity, andchloride, and compared with national environmental quality standards (NEQS). All the results and management processeswere also compared with ISO 14001:2015, which indicated the weakness in the general administration framework andEnvironmental Management System (EMS). The results show that pH 8.6, TDS 1100 mg/l, turbidity 5.5 NTU, andchloride 260 mg/l were exceeding the maximum permissible limits. The present study recommended that GHL watershould be treated before its use/ disposal. In the end, an EMS (a policy with protocol) manual was developed for continualimprovement of water use. Drinking water quality assessment and EMS framework offer assistance to oversee the waterquality and environment in health centers. Drinking water quality management under the guidelines of the environmentmanagement system manual developed in this study will greatly help to manage the environment, particularly waterpollution in local hospitals of Pakistan.

Applications of Online UV-Vis Spectrophotometer for Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Process Control: A Review.

Water quality monitoring is an essential component of water quality management for water utilities for managing the drinking water supply. Online UV-Vis spectrophotometers are becoming popular choices for online water quality monitoring and process control, as they are reagent free, do not require sample pre-treatments and can provide continuous measurements. The advantages of the online UV-Vis sensors are that they can capture events and allow quicker responses to water quality changes compared to conventional water quality monitoring. This review summarizes the applications of online UV-Vis spectrophotometers for drinking water quality management in the last two decades. Water quality measurements can be performed directly using the built-in generic algorithms of the online UV-Vis instruments, including absorbance at 254 nm (UV254), colour, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total organic carbon (TOC), turbidity and nitrate. To enhance the usability of this technique by providing a higher level of operations intelligence, the UV-Vis spectra combined with chemometrics approach offers simplicity, flexibility and applicability. The use of anomaly detection and an early warning was also discussed for drinking water quality monitoring at the source or in the distribution system. As most of the online UV-Vis instruments studies in the drinking water field were conducted at the laboratory- and pilot-scale, future work is needed for industrial-scale evaluation with ab appropriate validation methodology. Issues and potential solutions associated with online instruments for water quality monitoring have been provided. Current technique development outcomes indicate that future research and development work is needed for the integration of early warnings and real-time water treatment process control systems using the online UV-Vis spectrophotometers as part of the water quality management system.

Recent contributions of the National Institute of Public Health to drinking water quality management in Japan

Recent contributions of the National Institute of Public Health to drinking water quality management in Japan

Spatial and temporal multivariate statistical analysis to assess drinking water quality in medical services

Drinking water quality supplied to medical services presents significant role regarding the health aspect of the society. Multivariate statistical techniques were applied for the interpretation of data obtained, i.e., cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA), and discriminant analysis (DA) to analyze and assess the spatial and temporal variations of drinking water quality in different medical services in Kuwait. This study was generated over a period of 11 years (2007–2017), including 19 parameters at fourteen different sites. Hierarchical CA obtained two groups regarding both spatial and temporal variations. For spatial variations, 14 sampling sites were grouped into Low Concentration (LC) and High Concentration (HC). For temporal variations, 12 months were grouped into Summer and Winter. DA provided better results by data reduction for the large data set with great discriminatory ability for both spatial and temporal variations, as only five parameters were used concerning the spatial variations to afford 68.4% of the cases being assigned correctly, and seven parameters were interpreted for the temporal variations affording 76.1% of correctly classified cases. The applied PCA/FA on the spatial variations resulted in five principle components (PCs) for the LC region, and the total variance is 74.84% and three PCs for the HC region explaining a total variance of 64.86%. For the temporal variations, summer yielded into five PCs with a total variance of 70.6%, whereas the winter resulted in three PCs describing 67.1% total variance. Thus, multivariate analysis provides better spatial and temporal variations assessment in contemplation of effective drinking water quality management and control.

DEISGN OF MULTI-VILLAGE RURAL WATRE SUPPLY SYSTEM

Water supply in India is now broadcast as community based demand driven system, under which it’s important to reinforce capacity of local community exist in village and small town to improve and manage their own water supply system. The drinking water is one among the essential elements required for all components to hold out the various fundamental activities of lifecycle. Due to rapid urbanization and water inadequacy, continuing a stable and safe water supply has become a challenge to many cities. To overcome these challenges water supply system is required. Basics of Water Supply System gives information on the basic modules of a water supply system, as well as their installation, operation, and distribution, as well as drinking water quality management. With the use of digital GPS, a study of the current population, population from the last three decades, daily water demand, flow characteristics, and a survey of the village are conducted for the proposal of a water supply system. The towns' water supply network is analysed and developed using Bentley's WATERCAD programme. Water distribution network systems are designed to distribute water from a source to all or any single user in a sufficient amount, quality, and pressure.

Elements in potable groundwater in Rugao longevity area, China: Hydrogeochemical characteristics, enrichment patterns and health assessments

Rugao city is a typical longevity area taking shallow groundwater as the primary drinking water source. To determine the relationship between longevity and groundwater conditions, the hydrogeochemical characteristics and related causes of potable groundwater were investigated. On this basis, the water quality index (WQI) and hazard index (HI) of groundwater were evaluated. Meanwhile, the nutrient indicators beneficial to human health, like Ca and Mg concentrations, were also considered to explore the relationship. The results were as following: (1) 91.3% of water samples fell under the Ca/Mg–HCO3 water type, which resulted from the dissolution of silicate rock. Na, Cl-, Br, B in groundwater emanated from seawater intrusion. The abnormal concentrations of NO3− and As also indicated that anthropogenic activities had exerted significant influences on groundwater quality. (2) The average WQI value was 30.19, which meant that the overall groundwater quality in Rugao city was pretty good. However, 8 water samples were found to have HI values above 1, which might be attributed to the high concentration of As (maximum value 0.0407 mg/L; mean value 0.0076 mg/L). In general, low WQI and HI values corresponded to towns with a high longevity population; what’s more, WQI and HI values of Rugao city were lower than those of non-longevity areas. (3) Comparing with adjacent non-longevity areas, the potable groundwater in Rugao city had the characteristics of high Ca (mean value 123.57 mg/L), high Mg (mean value 50.33 mg/L) and high SO42- (mean value 525.19 mg/L). The daily intake of Ca and Mg from drinking water could meet 12.4% and 22.4% of daily Ca and Mg requirements, respectively. Also, the areas where the Sr and B concentrations were higher usually had higher life expectancy. The high concentrations of Ca, Mg, SO42-, Sr and B in drinking water, as well as low WQI and HI values, probably contribute to physical health and longevity. This research helps provide an insight into the relationship between groundwater quality and health and can serve as a reference for drinking water quality management.

Drinking water quality assessment in distribution networks: A water footprint approach

Reliable water quality monitoring and assessment can help to minimize the risk of water quality failures (WQFs) in water distribution networks (WDNs). Indexing-based water quality assessment approaches classify water quality based on contaminant concentrations. However, the resultant indices do not provide any information on trade-offs between water quality and quantity. The need to preserve the earth's natural resources has drawn attention to the use of footprint approaches to assess water quality. This paper uses a water footprint concept to develop a grey water footprint (GWF)-based framework for water quality assessment. A probabilistic human health risk assessment (HHRA) is also incorporated in the GWF approach to address the uncertainties. The proposed framework was implemented by considering the disinfection by-products (DBPs) in WDNs as a case study, and the results were compared with those generated using the Canadian Water Quality Index (CWQI) approach. Six drinking water quality management strategies (DWQMSs) were evaluated. The results from both approaches were correlated, indicating GWF as an alternative to CWQI. The assessment results showed that DWQMSs having groundwater as a source deliver better water quality in terms of DBPs occurrence compared to those using a surface water source. The GWF approach helps categorize water quality by estimating the theoretical volume of fresh water required to dilute the contaminant concentrations to below threshold levels. Water stakeholders can apply this framework considering any contaminants to drinking water quality using a quantitative water footprint scale and develop a trade-off between water quality and quantity management.

Value of a made-in-Ontario management system standard for municipal wastewater and stormwater utilities

Abstract This paper builds on previous research to address the question of whether there is practical value for a made-in-Ontario municipal management system standard (MSS) for wastewater and stormwater related activities, in addition to the Drinking Water Quality Management System Standard (DWQMS) that is already statutorily required. This research specifically addressed the questions: is there value in a mandatory or voluntary MSS; are there neutral, positive, or negative effects of having an MSS; and what standard is more adequate? Through a focus group method, this research finds evidence in support of and wide recognition of the practical value an MSS in assisting municipalities in meeting their environmental objectives, addressing property damage risks, providing an additional mechanism of public accountability, and improving alignment with the legal structure. It was also apparent that there is no political appetite in the provincial government to embark on a mandated MSS, so the preferred option at this time appears to be a provincially endorsed, voluntary, sector-specific standard for wastewater and for stormwater, which could constitute a catalyst to boost voluntary uptake of MSS by small to medium municipalities (as is already occurring with large municipalities). This standard could be based on a customized variation of the ISO 14001 and DWQMS.

An automated and high‐throughput method for adenosine triphosphate quantification

AbstractExposure to microbial contamination through drinking water is a major global health concern. Effective management of microbial drinking water quality requires rapid detection equipment. Currently, microbial quality is monitored using time‐consuming laboratory methods, which delay any response. This study demonstrates the development of an automated and high‐throughput method for the measurement of viable biomass in water through the quantification of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The developed method was able to efficiently and accurately quantify cellular ATP in multiple water samples simultaneously. In addition, it proved to be 5× faster and as accurate as the Standard Test Method for Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Content of Microorganisms in Water (ASTM D4012). The developed method has the potential to represent a significant advancement for microbial monitoring and could benefit utilities interested in measuring viable biomass in water to monitor the health of biofilters and the effectiveness of disinfection strategies.

Performance Assessment Framework for Small Water Systems: Case Study in British Columbia

AbstractThis study presents a performance assessment of small water systems (SWSs) through the lens of drinking water quality management. The performance assessment is based on five criteria: treat...