Science Inventory

Informing remediation of benzene contamination in drinking water distribution systems through multi-criteria decision analysis

Citation:

Haupert, L., J. McDonnell, K. Martel, M. Miles, AND M. Magnuson. Informing remediation of benzene contamination in drinking water distribution systems through multi-criteria decision analysis. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands, 3:100013, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2021.100013

Impact/Purpose:

When contamination incidents occur in drinking water distribution systems, utilities need to select the remediation technologies most suited to their system-specific conditions and the contaminants of concern. Technology selection often involves balancing competing priorities. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is a promising approach that has been used extensively in other industries but not yet in drinking water management. This paper discusses development of a computer-based tool that allows practitioners to leverage the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a well-established method of MCDA, to select remediation technologies based on their effectiveness and their compatibility with the practitioner’s project objectives. This paper focuses on benzene, a contaminant implicated for many years in contamination incidents following spills and, more recently, wildfires.

Description:

During WSD's review of its recent "Decontamination Preparedness and Assessment Strategy", reviewers requested a "how-to" tool for completing some technical aspects of the strategy, specifically those related to selecting technologies for water treatment and system decontamination. This product provides the technical basis for the technology selection portion of the DPAS tool. A preliminary (beta) version of the tool may be available to coincide with the official launch of DPAS, probably in early FY20. This FY21 product is a more refined version of the beta tool.