United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Water Security  Initiative:  Guidance for Building Laboratory
 Capabilities to Respond to Drinking Water Contamination
                                 Contaminant Classes of Concern to Water Security
                                                      Chemicals
                                 Carbamate pesticides
                                 Organophosphate pesticides
                                 Arsenic com pounds
                                 Mercury compounds
                                 Cyanide compounds
                                 Petroleum products
                                 Herbicides
                                 Biotoxins
                               Plant toxins
                               Algal toxins
                               Bacterial toxins
                               Fungal toxins
                               Animal toxins
                                                                        Pathogens
                                                                   Select and non-select bacteria
                                                                   Select and non-select viruses
                                                                   Protozoa
                                                                   Rickettsia
                               Approach for Building Laboratory Response Capabilities
Overview
Drinking water contamination can occur as a result
of natural, accidental, or intentional acts. Under
EPA's Water Security Initiative, a Surveillance
and Response System is an integrated utility
program of active distribution system surveillance
and response protocols. Active surveillance can
improve water quality and operations at the utility
and, when paired with effective response actions,
can detect distribution system contamination early
enough to mitigate consequences.

If water contamination is suspected, sampling and
analysis is one of the earliest utility-led response
actions.  Sampling and analysis includes field
investigation, site safety screening, water quality
parameter analyses, rapid field testing, sample
collection, and laboratory analyses to confirm or rule
out contamination.

This guidance is for water utilities to help them
prepare for laboratory analysis of a wide range of
contaminant classes of concern to water security
during consequence management of Possible,
Credible or Confirmed contamination incidents.

The recommended approach is to build capabilities,
either in-house or through support laboratories, for
representative contaminants from each contaminant
class of concern to water security. Identifying
contaminants, analytical methods and laboratory
support partners in advance of an emergency
response situation enables the utility to:
  • practice  methods and exercise laboratory
   partnerships
  • establish baseline contaminant occurrence and
   method performance for water samples from
   their distribution system
  • improve  the efficiency of their response through
   identification and  development of sampling and
   analysis  procedures
Contents of Guidance
  • Contaminant Classes of Concern
  • Preferred Analytical Methods for Representative
   Contaminants
  • Building  a Laboratory Support Network
  • Reimbursement of Costs Incurred During
   Emergency Response
Link to Guidance
http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecurity/lawsregs/
upload/epa817r13001 .pdf
              	  Office of Water (MC-140) • EPA 817-F-13-006 • November 2013
                                                                                Chemical warfare agents
                                                                                Pharmaceuticals
                                                                                Fluorinated organic compounds
                                                                                Heavy metal compounds
                                                                                Persistent chlorinated organics
                                                                                Rodenticides
  Radiochemicals
Alpha emitters
Beta emitters
Beta + Gamma emitters
                                                Review contaminants of concern to water
                                                	security.	
                                               Select subset representing broad contaminant
                                                           coverage.
                                                        Identify methods.
                                     Y s
                                                                           Is there a dual-use
                                                                         benefit to acquiring in-
                                                                           house capability?
                                                 Establish in-house capability for routine
                                                       sampling and analysis.
                                                        Are there condition
                                                       under which the routine
                                                      in-house capability would
                                                          not be used in
                                                       emergency response?
                                    Establish in-house
                                      capability for
                                   emergency response
                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                        I

                                                                                                       No
                                                                                                        I


                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                        I
                                                                                                  Yes
                                                                                                  Identify a partner
                                                                                                   for emergency
                                                                                                  response support.

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