US Environmental Protection Agency Uses Operations Research to Reduce Contamination Risks in Drinking Water

Regan Murray (), William E. Hart (), Cynthia A. Phillips (), Jonathan Berry (), Erik G. Boman (), Robert D. Carr (), Lee Ann Riesen (), Jean-Paul Watson (), Terra Haxton (), Jonathan G. Herrmann (), Robert Janke (), George Gray (), Thomas Taxon (), James G. Uber () and Kevin M. Morley ()
Additional contact information
Regan Murray: US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
William E. Hart: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Cynthia A. Phillips: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Jonathan Berry: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Erik G. Boman: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Robert D. Carr: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Lee Ann Riesen: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Jean-Paul Watson: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
Terra Haxton: US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
Jonathan G. Herrmann: US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
Robert Janke: US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
George Gray: US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 20460
Thomas Taxon: Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439
James G. Uber: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221
Kevin M. Morley: American Water Works Association, Washington, DC 20005

Interfaces, 2009, vol. 39, issue 1, 57-68

Abstract: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the lead federal agency for the security of drinking water in the United States. The agency is responsible for providing information and technical assistance to the more than 50,000 water utilities across the country. The distributed physical layout of drinking-water utilities makes them inherently vulnerable to contamination incidents caused by terrorists. To counter this threat, the EPA is using operations research to design, test, and deploy contamination warning systems (CWSs) that rapidly detect the presence of contaminants in drinking water. We developed a software tool to optimize the design process, published a decision-making process to assist utilities in applying the tool, pilot-tested the tool on nine large water utilities, and provided training and technical assistance to a larger group of utilities. We formed a collaborative team of industry, academia, and government to critique our approach and share CWS deployment experiences. Our work has demonstrated that a CWS is a cost-effective, timely, and capable method of detecting a broad range of contaminants. Widespread application of these new systems will significantly reduce the risks associated with catastrophic contamination incidents: the median estimated fatalities reduction for the nine utilities already studied is 48 percent; the corresponding economic-impact reduction is over $19 billion. Because of this operations research program, online monitoring programs, such as a CWS, are now the accepted technology for reducing contamination risks in drinking water.

Keywords: homeland security; water security; sensor placement; integer programming; applications; government services; water; facilities-equipment planning; location (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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