You are here:
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S EVALUATION OF EARLY WARNING SENSORS AND MONITORS FOR DISTRIBUTION
Citation:
HAUGHT, R., J. G. HERRMANN, AND J. HALL. U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S EVALUATION OF EARLY WARNING SENSORS AND MONITORS FOR DISTRIBUTION. Presented at 2005 Borchardt Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, February 23 - 25, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
to present information
Description:
Since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the safety and security of the United States drinking water distribution systems has been reassessed. Several chemical and biological agents have been identified that could constitute a credible threat against a water distribution system. In order to protect drinking water supplies, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated a program in 2003 to investigate sensors and monitors that may be used to trigger an alarm to a contamination event. These sensors monitor standard drinking water parameters such as pH, free chlorine, oxygen reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, turbidity, total organic carbon, chloride, ammonia, and nitrate. The research is being conducted with the use of multiple above ground distribution system simulators located at the EPA's Test and Evaluation Facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. The experimental results indicate that various parameters are able to indicate a change in water quality due to injections of various contaminants into the distribution system simulator. Research is also being conducted at bench-scale and with the simulators to determine the minimum contaminant dose required to trigger an alarm. Contaminants tested to date include secondary effluent from a waste water treatment plant, potassium ferricyanide, arsenic trioxide, nicotine, malathion and aldicarb insecticides, and glyphosate herbicide. Testing has also been initiated with chemical and biological warfare agents.