Water Contamination Emergencies: Monitoring, Understanding and Acting: Volume 331 (Special Publications) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184973156X ISBN 13: 9781849731560

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011

Synopsis

This book is the proceedings of the International Conference on Water Contamination Emergencies: Monitoring, Understanding, Acting held in October 2010.

About this title

About the Author

Over the last 40 years, Prof. Thompson has gained very broad experience in the management of environmental laboratories. He has managed laboratories at both Severn Trent and Yorkshire Water. He is currently Chief Scientist of ALcontrol UK. ALcontrol Laboratories employs over 1600 staff in the UK and mainland Europe in 11 countries. It is one of the largest contract water, soil air and food analysis laboratory organisations in Europe. He set up the UK water laboratories mutual aid group in 1995 and still chairs this group and is active on a number of ISO/CEN and British Standard committees. He has published over 60 papers and a number of books. Ulrich Borchers has been working with the IWW Water Centre in Muelheim/Ruhr (Germany) since 1993, in different executive positions. Since 2002 he has been Manager of the Water Quality Department and Authorised Officer of the Water Centre. His routine lab and the R&D group comprise nearly 55 scientists from various disciplines and technical staff as well. In 2004 he was also appointed Technical Chief Executive Officer of the IWW NORD, a branch of the IWW Water Centre in Northern Germany. The focus of Ulrich Borchers' work is on instrumental chemical (organic and inorganic) and microbiological water analysis, as well as on the examination and assessment of different types of water and water treatment chemicals. Furthermore, he is active in the field of organising national and international PTs for water parameters and he also has long-term experience as lecturer at the "Academy of Public Health" in Duesseldorf, Germany (education of health authorities¦ staff). He has been the Chair of several European Conferences in the field of Water Policy and organises annual conferences on PT schemes for drinking water laboratories in the framework of the German Drinking Water Regulation. Finally, Ulrich is active in the field of European (CEN) and International (ISO) standardisation of analytical methods and is involved with several activities around the implementation of European Water Directives (e.g. Water Framework Directive, Drinking Water Directive, Groundwater Directive) in co-operation with the General Directorate Environment of the European Commission (EU DG ENV) in Brussels. He has published about 45 papers in international literature and several books. Professor Professor Peter A. Williams currently holds position as Academic Leader, Materials and Analytical Science, Director, Materials Science Research Centre, Glyndwr University, UK. He was first appointed as Research Scientist at Glyndwr University in 1978 before becoming Senior Research Scientist in 1986, Reader in 1990, Director Centre for Water Soluble Polymers 1994, Professor Polymer and Colloid Chemistry in 1996, Director Materials Science Research Centre 2006 and as Academic Leader Materials and Analytical Sciences in 2010. His work has concentrated on the synthesis, characterisation, properties and applications of a broad range of polysaccharides and synthetic water soluble polymers.

From the Back Cover

This book is the proceedings of the International Conference on Water Contamination Emergencies: Monitoring, Understanding, Acting held in October 2010. The fourth in a series of conference proceedings, this book develops themes from three previous, highly successful Water Contamination Emergencies conferences in addition to dealing specifically with four new principle themes: monitoring, understanding, acting and lessons learned. With contributions from leading scientists and experts in academia and industry it offers a truly international perspective on our ability to deal with water contamination emergencies. Emphasis is given to prevention, strategy and unusual emergency incident situations relating to drinking water. This book should appeal to public health professionals, water companies, regulators, risk and business continuity managers, emergency planners, local authorities, service and support providers, disaster recovery specialists, water security experts, water distribution modellers, and all experts involved in emergency planning and response.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Water Contamination Emergencies

Monitoring, Understanding and Acting

By K. Clive Thompson, Ulrich Borchers

The Royal Society of Chemistry

Copyright © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84973-156-0

Contents

Drinking water safety: guidance to health and water professionals – and other health protection issues on water safety V. Murray and G. Lau, 1, 
A novel approach for early warning of drinking water contamination events B.H. Tangena, P.J.C.M Janssen, G. Tiesjema, E.J. van den Brandhof, M. Klein Koerkamp, J. W. Verhoef, A. Filippi, W. van Delft, 13, 
Detection and identification of microbial contamination R. Aitchison, C. Heller, U. Reidt, A. Helwig and A. Friedberger, 32, 
Validation of a water quality monitoring platform in Barcelona drinking water treatment plant R. López-Roldán, S. González, J. Ribó, J. Appels and J.L. Cortina, 39, 
Rapid confirmation of microbiological alerts using off-line molecular methods C. W. Keevil and S.A. Wilks, 48, 
Improving quality and saving dollars using real-time online water quality monitoring K. Thompson, G. Jacobson and K. Chamberlain, 59, 
Clean data and reliable event detection – turning results from online sensors into information J. van den Broeke, F. Edthofer and A. Weingartner, 70, 
Is it real or isn't it? Addressing early warning system alarms D. Kroll, 82, 
Selection and prioritization of substances relevant for intentional drinking water contamination M. Lange and N. Pilz, 88, 
The need for a joined up approach to the provision, management, security and delivery of alternative drinking water supplies K. Silcock, 97, 
Communicating with the public about risk M. McGuinness, 104, 
Potable water contamination emergency: - The analytical challenge B. May, 110, 
Some examples of the operation and benefits of the UK water laboratories' mutual aid scheme K. C. Thompson, P. Frewin and T. Brooks, 117, 
Development of a rapid gross alpha & beta method for the water industry T. Brooks, P. Frewin and K. C. Thompson, 125, 
A Scandinavian emergency for drinking water network contamination: the Nokia case study I.T. Miettinen, O. Lepistö, T. Pitkänen, M. Kuusi, L. Maunula, J. Laine and M-L. Hänninen, 133, 
Sensors and webservices for land & water management W. Boënne, X. Tang, N. Desmet, J. Schepens, P. Seuntjens, 136, 
Graph decomposition as operative tool in hydraulic system analysis – security aspects J. W. Deuerlein and A. Wolters, 147, 
Efficacy of free chlorine against water biofilms and spores of Penicillium brevicompactum V.M de Siqueira and N. Lima, 157, 
Near real time monitoring of E. coli in water F. Zibuschka, T. Lendenfeld, G. Lindner, 166, 
Subject Index, 169, 

CHAPTER 1

DRINKING WATER SAFETY: GUIDANCE TO HEALTH AND WATER PROFESSIONALS – AND OTHER HEALTH PROTECTION ISSUES ON WATER SAFETY

V. Murray and G. Lau

Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Health Protection Agency, 2nd Floor, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SZ, UK

1 INTRODUCTION

The water industry and all its partners are key to the provision of wholesome drinking water to all within our populations. Part of this process is to work with water industry regulators and public health professionals who are concerned for the health of the people. This international conference provides a valuable opportunity to facilitate this and share knowledge by concentrating on water contamination emergencies and examining three key issues of monitoring, understand and acting.

Chemical incidents are not infrequent and may occur as very rapidly obvious releases, such as chemical spills, fires and explosions, or as less immediately apparent events such as contamination of a food product or land contamination. Incidents can occur accidentally or deliberately.

Some chemical incidents may have an impact beyond their original location, in some cases crossing national borders. For example, in north-west Romania cyanide was released from a gold mine into the local river system, leading to fish deaths in three countries. More recently a chemical sludge spill in Hungary on 4 October 2010 has required acute public health impact assessment following the eight deaths and over 120 injured. The immediate health effects of the spill included drowning and chemical bums due to an elevated pH (>12) of the red sludge. Ongoing assessment is needed of the health effects of possible exposure to dust, water and locally produced food that may contain increased amounts of heavy metals. The sludge entered the river Danube and may spread in attenuated forms to countries downstream; this possibility and related health effects will be evaluated. While serious short-term health effects are considered unlikely, potential medium- and long-term effects through contamination from heavy metals (for example, entering the food chain) requires ongoing assessment.

Chemical incidents that lead to human exposure present an important public health challenge both nationally and globally. As part of this, the Drinking Water Safety: Guidance to Health and Water Professionals provides a tool to assist in managing water contamination emergencies in England and Wales. This guidance has been developed by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) and Health Protection Agency (HPA) and was published in 2009.

This chapter will consider what the roles of the DWI and HPA are in managing water contamination emergencies, the joint guidance and look at chemical incident response and the water shortages arising from flooding in practice. In addition, it will look at research in development, such as the UK Recovery Handbook for Chemical Incidents and address where the work of the water industry and international issues can contribute together towards areas where there are global initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals.

2 DRINKING WATER INSPECTORATE

The DWI is the drinking water quality regulator for England and Wales. It was formed in 1990 on the privatisation of the water industry. It is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), but its Chief Inspector is appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (in England) and National Assembly for Wales, and acts independently of government.

The overarching objective of the DWI is to maintain public confidence in the safety and quality of public water supplies through exercise of its powers of reporting, audit, inspection, enforcement and prosecution. In addition, drinking water inspectors are engineers/scientists with considerable water supply and water quality monitoring experience, therefore the DWI also has a role in providing government with advice on water supply and quality matters. The regulatory framework for water supplies in England and Wales is set out in the Water Industry Act 1991 (the 1991 Act). The 1991 Act was amended by the Water Act 2003. The 1991 Act defines the powers and duties under which the DWI operates and also the duties of water companies and licensees. Under the 1991 Act the authorities responsible for regulating the quality of public supplies are the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (in England) and National Assembly for Wales.

3 HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY

The HPA identifies and responds to health hazards and emergencies caused by infectious disease, hazardous chemicals, poisons or radiation. It gives advice to the public on how to stay healthy and avoid health hazards, provides data and information to government to help inform its decision making and advises people working in healthcare. It also makes sure the nation is ready for future threats to health that could happen naturally, accidentally or deliberately.

The HPA combines public health and scientific knowledge, research and emergency planning within one organisation and works at international, national, regional and local levels. It also supports and advises other organisations that play a part in protecting health. The HPA's advice, information and services are underpinned by evidence-based research. It also uses its research to develop new vaccines and treatments that directly help patients.

Although set up by government, the HPA is currently independent and provides advice and information that is necessary to protect people's health. It exists to help protect the health of everyone in the UK; the ambition is to lead the way by identifying, preparing for and responding to health threats.

In the Health Protection Agency Strategic Overview 2010-2015, Preparing, Preventing, Responding, the HPA's functions are summarised as:

Reducing key infections.

Minimising the health impact of environmental hazards including radiation, chemicals, poisonings and extreme events such as flooding.

Supporting safe and effective biological medicines.

In response to the exponential increase in international travel and trade, and emergence and re-emergence of international disease threats and other health risks, 194 countries across the globe have agreed to implement the International Health Regulations (2005). This binding instrument of international law entered into force on 15 June 2007. The regulations require Member States to strengthen core surveillance and response capacities at primary, intermediate and national levels, as well as at designated international ports, airports and ground crossings. The HPA acts as the focal point for these regulations in the UK.

It is likely that the HPA will become core to a new Public Health Service and join this in 2012.

Every day in the UK, HPA advice is sought in response to chemical incidents. The HPA provides authoritative scientific and medical advice to the NHS and other bodies about the known health effects of chemicals, poisons and other environmental hazards. Of the 967 incidents recorded between 1 January – 31 December 2009, 16% (154) of acute chemical incidents resulted in evacuation of the nearby population. The chemical group most frequently identified was products of combustion (31%, 315) with the majority being designated as fires. This is followed by "other organic" chemicals (14%, 133) and "other inorganic" chemicals (10%, 94).

The HPA has developed resources and services for the management of water related chemical incidents including:

Incident checklists, which the HPA currently provides for flooding incidents, odour complaints and other water related chemical incidents. These checklists are designed as an aide-memoire for public health professionals and other emergency responders.

The Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report, which is published for staff in the HPA, NHS, government departments and allied organisations, as well as first line responders such as fire and ambulance services. It is also useful to students and members of the public with an interest in environmental public health.

The Compendium of Chemical Hazards, which is an online information resource for the public and all public health professionals who may be involved in advising and responding to chemical incidents.

4 DRINKING WATER SAFETY: GUIDANCE TO HEALTH AND WATER PROFESSIONALS

This guidance has been developed jointly by the DWI and HPA. It is intended to inform public health and other health professionals about the structure and legal framework of the water industry in England and Wales.

In 2007, there was a major water supply incident involving the loss of water supplies to 160,000 properties in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Tewkesbury and a large part of rural Gloucestershire due to the waterworks being inundated with flood water (see Section 8). Subsequent to this, and other incidents, national level discussions between the DWI and HPA led to an agreement to prepare and publish joint guidance to health and water professionals in support of drinking water quality risk assessments and the issuing of consumer protection advice.

In their day-to-day role, water quality scientists in the water industry work closely with health professionals in the HPA and local authorities. The maintenance of sound working relationships is very important to the delivery of effective and timely responses to water quality incidents and emergencies.

In the preparation of this guidance it was apparent that the safety of drinking water in England and Wales is something the public is able to take for granted, because the day-to-day water supply arrangements in place are comprehensive and demonstrably based on sound science with a fully transparent system of independent scrutiny and appropriate sanctions in place. Accordingly, the guidance contains nothing new and its adoption did not require any special action to be taken by the water industry or health professionals over and above its incorporation into existing training regimes, and its inclusion in water supply and public health operating and emergency management procedures.

The guidance considers the legal framework of the DWI, HPA, public water supplies, private water supplies and that of local authorities. It describes the legal framework of wholesome drinking water which by law (the 1991 Act) drinking water must be wholesome at the time of supply. Wholesomeness is defined by reference to drinking water quality standards and other requirements set out in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (as amended) which apply in England and the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2001 (as amended) which apply in Wales. The guidance notes that many of the standards come from the 1998 European Drinking Water Directive, which came into force fully on 25 December 2003. The Directive focuses on those parameters of importance to human health, but it also includes others that relate to the control of water treatment processes and the aesthetic quality of drinking water. The Directive allows Member States to set additional or tighter national standards to secure the good quality of drinking water already achieved and to prevent it from deteriorating in the future.

Water companies will take a number of actions to protect public health in association with the DWI and HPA. The responsibility for issuing warning notices to consumers and providing alternative water supplies (rezoning, tankers, bowsers and bottles) rests, at all times, with the water company. Precautionary advice is issued by water companies to householders in the form of letters, leaflets or warning notices the public is familiar with, and is therefore responsive to, such advice coming from their water supply company. Depending on a water contamination emergency the water companies may issue three types of warning message:

Boil before use for drinking and food preparation. Do not use for drinking or cooking.

Do not use for drinking, cooking or washing.

5 LONDON WATER CONTAMINATION INCIDENTS

A local agreement has been made between the HPA and DWI for providing notifications on drinking water related incidents involving health protection issues. The local agreement aims to support the London Early Alerting System. Since July 2007, a total of 44 notifications regarding drinking water related incidents in the London region were received by the HPA from the DWI (Figure 1). The majority of these incidents were located in North East/North Central, followed by North West, South East and South West London areas (Figure 2).

Since more than 40% of London's water mains are over 100 years old, it is not surprising to find that the majority of the incidents were due to burst water mains. Out of the seven incidents that are categorised as chemical contamination, six were related to drinking water contaminated with hydrocarbons with no serious public health consequences for these incidents. The remaining incident concerned elevated levels of ammonia found in a water treatment works, which was resolved before the contamination entered the drinking water supply. Other categories of incidents were mostly temporary i.e. discolouration, heavy rainfall, leakages, taste and odour etc., and with minimal impact on public health.

6 PUBLIC HEALTH/PROTECTION RESPONSE

If an initial risk assessment indicates a risk to public health, whether actual or potential, then action is required. This will involve immediate care, clinical and health protection support and co-ordination in addition to working with other agencies and organisations in a timely manner. Health protection and public health response professionals act as an interface between clinical health care and overall management of a chemical incident. It is they who will attend the operational, tactical or strategic incident meetings. Most incidents are resolved at the operational level (bronze) requiring public health support by telephone usually, some require tactical support (silver) and a few go to the strategic level (gold).

Occasionally, in the UK, the Science and Technical Cell (STAC) or, perhaps, the Cabinet Office Briefing Room may be required (Figure 3). Public health professionals from the HPA, along with DWI engineers/scientists, may be asked to contribute at STAC and they, with toxicological and other expert knowledge, will contribute to decisions including sheltering and evacuation and the calling in of an incident control team if required.

7 BUNCEFIELD OIL DEPOT FIRE, HERTFORDSHIRE, 2005

In the early hours of 11 December 2005, a number of explosions occurred at Buncefield Oil Storage Depot, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Significant damage occurred to both commercial and residential properties in the vicinity and the fire burned for several days. Three Valleys Water responded to the incident and assisted the emergency services by making water available for fire fighting and providing local knowledge to the multi agency team led by the Environment Agency set up to manage the environmental impact of the incident.

(Continues...)

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Edition details

• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184973156X
• ISBN 13: 9781849731560
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 178
• Editor: K Clive Thompson