.

                                                  o
 &EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Water  Health
and  Economic
Analysis  Tool
Version 3.0
CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS TOOL
FOR WATER UTILITIES
                        c>
                                                                           *  I
                                                                    -
PURPOSE
The Water Health and Economic Analysis Tool (WHEAT) is designed to assist utility owners and operators
in quantifying an adverse event's public health consequences (i.e., injuries and fatalities), utility-level financial
consequences, direct and indirect regional economic consequences and downstream impacts. The United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with drinking water and wastewater (water sector)
partners, developed WHEAT to support consequence analyses for three scenarios: 1) loss of one or more assets,
2) release of a stored hazardous gas and 3) intentional contamination of a drinking water distribution system.

The WHEAT methodology uses a step-by-step process that assists users in conducting a consequence analysis
through development of "what-if" scenarios. Users can easily enter information about their utility; build and run
a consequence analysis scenario; and generate a report that summarizes the results.
WHEAT CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS PROCESS
    System &
    Scenario
    Selections
 Baseline
  Inputs
    Scenario Inputs & Service
      Loss and Response
Public Health
Consequences
                Distribution
               System Impacts
  Utility-level &
Regional Economic
  Conquences
              Downstream Impacts
               (Wastewater Only)
 WHEAT
Summary
 Report

-------
FEATURES
    Step-wise guidance to build scenarios and estimate utility-level consequences
    Help materials at each step of the analysis to guide users through the process
    Three scenarios of potential consequences:
      Release of a hazardous gas
Loss of operating assets
Water contamination
    Detailed report that summarizes the baseline, scenario and consequence analysis results
The utility-level financial consequences reported by
WHEAT correlate the extent and duration of loss in
drinking water or wastewater service with the extent of
damage to operating asset(s). The tool estimates the
following as they result from the incident: lost sales
revenues, increased utility operating costs (e.g., labor,
equipment, materials, replacement water, environmental
damage and remediation) and asset repair and replacement
costs. Regional economic impacts are also estimated
to account for losses incurred by businesses directly
affected by, for example, a loss of service (i.e., direct
impacts) and  losses among other businesses that are
linked economically to the directly affected  businesses
(i.e., total impacts).
           APPLICATION OF WHEAT ANALYSIS RESULTS
           Determining an adverse event's potential consequences
           is an important step in conducting a comprehensive risk
           assessment. The results of a WHEAT analysis can inform
           risk assessment tools such as EPA's Vulnerability Self
           Assessment Tool (VSAT). WHEAT users can readily import
           their results directly into a VSAT risk assessment to help
           determine the potential consequences (i.e., public health and
           financial impacts) of a specific threat's impact on a utility's
           assets. WHEAT output data can be used to make informed
           decisions regarding asset management as part of a risk
           assessment, including actions to take or countermeasures
           to put in place to improve emergency preparedness,
           enhance resilience  and justify expenditures for future
           infrastructure improvement. Using WHEAT greatly simplifies
           risk assessment, giving  users quantitative information for
           better managing their utility's risk in case of adverse events.
WHEAT CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS AS A PART OF WATER SECTOR RISK ASSESSMENT METHODS
                                                                  HEAT: CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS
                                                                  Asset-Threat Combinations
                                                               (Hazardous Gas Release, Loss of
                                                                  Assets, or Contamination)
                                                                  Financial
                                                               Costs/Regional
                                                                 Economic
                                                                 Impact ($)
                                        Public Health
                                           Impact
                                          (Numbers)
                                                               Consequence II Consequence
                                                                 Economic    I Public Health
                                                                    Bins              Bins
  FOR MORE INFORMATION
  Download WHEAT Version 3.0 at http:ywww.epa.gov/wheat.
  For more information or questions, email WHEAThelp@epa.gov.
                       Office of Water (4608-T)  |  EPA 817-F-14-003  |  May 2014

-------