Pilot Projects:
Greater Cincinnati Water Works and
Additional Pilots
In partnership with the City of Cincinnati's Greater
Cincinnati Waterworks (GCWW), EPA deployed
the first full-scale, comprehensive CWS, based
on the conceptual design described in the Water
Security Initiative System Architecture guidance.
The drinking water CWS components are now
installed and fully operational, with performance
data continuing to be evaluated by EPA.
Elements of each Cincinnati CWS component, as
installed, are described more fully in the report
Cincinnati Pilot Post-Implementation System
Status, available at water.epa.gov/infrastructure/
watersecurity/index. cfm.
Additional pilot cities include Dallas, TX; New
York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and San Francisco,
CA. These projects will conclude in 2012.
Opportunities for Involvement
To learn more about EPA's WS initiative, please
send an e-mail to watersecurity@epa.gov or
contact the WS initiative project coordinator, Dan
Schmelling (202-564-5281).
WS initiative products are available on the WS
initiative website: water.epa.gov/infrastructure/
watersecurity/index. cfm.
Comments on interim guidance documents are
welcome and can be submitted to watersecurity@
epa.gov (please include the document title in the
subject line of your e-mail).
&EPA
_
EPA Office of Water- EPA 817-F-10-012
September 2010
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Water Security Initiative
Program Overview and Available Products
Program Overview
The Water Security (WS) initiative is a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
program that addresses the risk of contamination
of drinking water distribution systems. EPA
established this initiative in response to
Homeland Security Presidential Directive
9, under which the Agency must "develop
robust, comprehensive, and fully coordinated
surveillance and monitoring systems, including
international information, for... water quality
that provides early detection and awareness of
disease, pest, or poisonous agents"
EPA is implementing the WS initiative in three
phases:
Phase I: Develop the conceptual design of
a contamination warning system for timely
detection and appropriate response to drinking
water contamination incidents to mitigate public
health and economic impacts;
Phase II: Test and demonstrate contamination
warning systems through pilots at drinking water
utilities and municipalities and make refinements
to the design as needed based upon pilot results;
and
Phase III: Develop practical guidance and
outreach to promote voluntary national adoption
of effective and sustainable drinking water
contamination warning systems.
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WS initiative products are available on the WS initiative website:
water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/index.cfm
Available Products
Water Security Initiative System Architecture
A contamination warning system (CWS) is a
proactive approach to managing drinking water
contamination threat warnings. It uses monitoring
technologies and enhanced surveillance activities
to collect, integrate, analyze, and communicate
information.
The Water Security Initiative System Architecture
recommends a design for a CWS, which includes:
• Online water quality monitoring;
• Public health surveillance;
• Sampling and analysis;
• Enhanced security monitoring; and
• Customer complaint surveillance.
Interim Guidance on Planning for
Contamination Warning System Deployment
Developing a CWS is a significant undertaking
that impacts most departments and divisions of a
utility at some stage. As the guidance describes,
deployment phases of a contamination warning
system include:
• Planning andpre-design: define objectives and
assess existing capabilities;
• Design: develop detailed work plans and
specifications;
• Implementation: develop consensus on the
approach established;
• Preliminary testing: collect baseline data;
• Operation and maintenance: once sufficient
baseline data have been collected, the utility
will transition into full deployment; and
• Evaluation and refinement.
Interim Guidance on Developing an
Operational Strategy for Contamination
Warning Systems
An operational strategy identifies key users of
a CWS and their requirements for information
access, procedures to guide system operation,
information systems that may be leveraged, and
requirements for notifications to the key users and
decision-makers. As detailed in this guidance, the
process includes:
• System-wide assessment of resources;
• Component-specific analysis to develop
standard operating procedures; and
• System-wide integration of component-
specific standard operating procedures into
a comprehensive operational strategy for the
CWS.
Figure 1: WS Initiative Program Overview
Interim Guidance on Developing
Consequence Management Plans for
Drinking Water Utilities
A Consequence Management Plan (CMP) serves
as a guide for the utility, describing actions that
should be taken upon discovery of a possible
contamination threat, as detected by one of the
CWS monitoring and surveillance components.
The purpose of this guidance document is to assist
drinking water utilities with planning, designing,
implementing, and maintaining an effective
Consequence Management Plan as part of a CWS.
It also provides a framework for the integration of
the Consequence Management Plan with existing
plans, training scenarios, and outreach efforts to
local, state, regional, and federal response partner
agencies.
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