Risk Assessment and Sustainability of Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation

Irena Tušer and Alena Oulehlová
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Irena Tušer: Department of Security and Law, AMBIS College, Lindnerova 1, 180 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Alena Oulehlová: Department of Military Science Theory, University of Defence, Kounicova 65, 662 10 Brno, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: Water and water management, which also includes wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), are considered essential elements critical infrastructure. A disruption of their operation can result in the discharge of wastewater into the environment without having been adequately treated. This can cause health problems, contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water, etc. In order to provide operational safety and sustainability of WWTP operation, it is necessary to establish protection against potential risk activation, together with risk minimization and enhanced preparedness to address the risks. The article deals with the application of risk management stages on the selected object of the municipal WWTP facility in the form of a case study. The risk identification phase consisted of the identification of assets and risks. The assets were grouped together due to the complexity of the WWTP operation. A combination of methods, a safety audit, a checklist and semi-structured interviews were used to identify the risks in three iterations. A risk register was created as a result of the risk identification phase. Subsequently, a risk analysis was carried out, in which the scenarios of the risk impact on the assets were examined, the index levels of probability and impacts were determined, and the risk estimate was performed. The Bowtie Analysis Method was used to illustrate the causes and consequences for one of the critical risks. The result of the study is the risk evaluation identified undesirable and unacceptable risks for which risk management methods were proposed

Keywords: environment; risk; risk management; risk analysis; risk assessment; sustainable development; wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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