Piped Drinking Water Sampling Plan for Small Water Systems in Singapore - A Regulator's Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranav S. Joshi ◽  
Ramnath Vaidyanathan ◽  
Lam Chun Hsiang ◽  
S Satish Appoo
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Sampling Plan ◽  
Water Sampling ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Small Water ◽  
Economy Of Scale ◽  
Organizational Controls ◽  
Piped Water

Small piped drinking water systems pose a unique challenge to the regulatory authorities since the owners/operators of such systems often lack technical expertise, resources and organizational controls to effectively operate their treatment systems, unlike the large utilities that have the economy of scale to address these issues in an optimal manner. With the discovery of new non-conventional sources of water and the continuous development of low-cost water treatment processes, the number of small suppliers is likely to grow worldwide in the future, especially in those remote areas/islands where drinking water is not easily available. In order to ensure that these suppliers are able to detect any health risk to the consumers in a timely manner, it is imperative to develop a water sampling plan that is comprehensive enough, yet flexible and practical to implement. This paper highlights Singapore's regulatory experience in prescribing, developing and monitoring the implementation of piped water sampling plans by small water suppliers.

Using Decision Trees to Predict Drinking Water Advisories in Small Water Systems

Opflow ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. E109-E118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Murphy ◽  
Munir Bhatti ◽  
Richard Harvey ◽  
Edward A. McBean
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Decision Trees ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Small Water ◽  
Small Water Systems

scholarly journals Estimating the burden of acute gastrointestinal illness due toGiardia, Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, E. coliO157 and norovirus associated with private wells and small water systems in Canada

2015 ◽  
Vol 144 (7) ◽  
pp. 1355-1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. MURPHY ◽  
M. K. THOMAS ◽  
P. J. SCHMIDT ◽  
D. T. MEDEIROS ◽  
S. McFADYEN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Gastrointestinal Illness ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Acute Gastrointestinal Illness ◽  
Small Water

SUMMARYWaterborne illness related to the consumption of contaminated or inadequately treated water is a global public health concern. Although the magnitude of drinking water-related illnesses in developed countries is lower than that observed in developing regions of the world, drinking water is still responsible for a proportion of all cases of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in Canada. The estimated burden of endemic AGI in Canada is 20·5 million cases annually – this estimate accounts for under-reporting and under-diagnosis. About 4 million of these cases are domestically acquired and foodborne, yet the proportion of waterborne cases is unknown. There is evidence that individuals served by private systems and small community systems may be more at risk of waterborne illness than those served by municipal drinking water systems in Canada. However, little is known regarding the contribution of these systems to the overall drinking water-related AGI burden in Canada. Private water supplies serve an estimated 12% of the Canadian population, or ~4·1 million people. An estimated 1·4 million (4·1%) people in Canada are served by small groundwater (2·6%) and surface water (1·5%) supplies. The objective of this research is to estimate the number of AGI cases attributable to water consumption from these supplies in Canada using a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) approach. This provides a framework for others to develop burden of waterborne illness estimates for small water supplies. A multi-pathogen QMRA ofGiardia, Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, E. coliO157 and norovirus, chosen as index waterborne pathogens, for various source water and treatment combinations was performed. It is estimated that 103 230 AGI cases per year are due to the presence of these five pathogens in drinking water from private and small community water systems in Canada. In addition to providing a mechanism to assess the potential burden of AGI attributed to small systems and private well water in Canada, this research supports the use of QMRA as an effective source attribution tool when there is a lack of randomized controlled trial data to evaluate the public health risk of an exposure source. QMRA is also a powerful tool for identifying existing knowledge gaps on the national scale to inform future surveillance and research efforts.

Water compliance challenges: how do Canadian small water systems respond?

Water Policy ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Kot ◽  
Graham A. Gagnon ◽  
Heather Castleden
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Small Water ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Drinking Water Systems

Fundamental to community health and well-being is the capacity to access a sustainable supply of safe drinking water. Small community drinking water systems are the most vulnerable to contamination, and struggle to secure the funds necessary to improve water treatment and delivery systems, and meet increasingly stringent drinking water quality regulations. Little is known of the contextual and cultural differences between communities and the impact this has on regulatory compliance. This study explored the experiences and impact of individual actors within seven small community drinking water systems in locations across Canada. Qualitative, in-person interviews were conducted with water operators, consumers, and decision-makers in each community, and these findings were analysed thematically. Findings from the study show that communities approach and align with compliance challenges in three distinct ways: by adopting regulator-provided or regulator-driven solutions, by adopting an existing improvement framework (i.e. regionalization), or through reinvention to address a new issue or concern. Policy-makers looking to align small communities with appropriate water quality goals may benefit from a consideration of these contextual and cultural differences.

scholarly journals Cryptosporidium in small water systems in Puerto Rico: a pilot study

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 853-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Robinson ◽  
Harvey A. Minnigh ◽  
Paul R. Hunter ◽  
Rachel M. Chalmers ◽  
Graciela I. Ramírez Toro
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Immunomagnetic Separation ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Small Water ◽  
Cryptosporidium Oocysts ◽  
Small Water Systems ◽  
Potential Public Health ◽  
Drinking Water Systems

A pilot study was undertaken to investigate the occurrence of Cryptosporidium in four very small drinking water systems supplying communities in rural Puerto Rico. Water samples (40 L) were collected and oocysts were concentrated by calcium carbonate flocculation, recovered by immunomagnetic separation and detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Cryptosporidium oocysts were identified in all four systems. This is the first report of evidence of the potential public health risk from this chlorine-resistant pathogen in Puerto Rican small water systems. Further work is warranted to fully assess the health risks that Cryptosporidium and other protozoa pose to populations served by community-managed small drinking water systems.

Carbon nanotube composite membranes for small ‘designer’ water treatment systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 917-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiou Huang ◽  
Howard Fairbrother ◽  
Benoit Teychene ◽  
Gaurav Ajmani ◽  
Talia Abbott Chalew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Treatment ◽  
Membrane Filtration ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Composite Membranes ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Treatment Technology ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Small Water ◽  
Filtration Cycle

Small water systems that serve fewer than a few thousand persons are often less safe and less sustainable than large drinking water systems due to lack of suitable technologies. This ongoing research aims to develop a novel water treatment technology for small communities. By layering structured, functional carbon nanotubes (CNT) onto low pressure membranes (LPMs), composite membranes were prepared to remove different organic and inorganic contaminants from water, including heavy metals, viruses, natural organic matter, and organic micropollutants. The removal efficiencies varied from over 99.9% (for cadmium) to above 60% (for humic substances). A low-cost CNT formed an antifouling layer that removed membrane foulants by depth filtration, thereby extending the membrane filtration cycle over five-fold. When the CNTs were layered inside hollow fiber membranes, superb backwashable properties were observed, allowing the operation of CNT-modified membranes under full-scale treatment conditions. Moreover, a systematic study of CNT rejection by LPMs found that commercially available LPMs efficiently prevented CNT breakthrough, thus ensuring nanosafety of the treated water. By varying the composition and structure of functional CNT layers, energy-efficient composite membranes may be economically produced for designer water treatment systems and applied in small communities.

scholarly journals The impact of on-premises piped water supply on fecal contamination pathways in rural Zambia

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Winter ◽  
Gary L. Darmstadt ◽  
Alexandria B. Boehm ◽  
Jennifer Davis
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Fecal Contamination ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Drinking Water Source ◽  
Piped Water ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact

AbstractReliable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services is a critical component of child health and development. However, as piped water systems with taps conveniently close to households are rare in rural, sub-Saharan Africa, there is limited evidence of their impact. We conducted a quasi-experimental study in four rural villages of southern Zambia between April 2018 and May 2019 in which we measured the impact of installing on-premises piped water systems on fecal contamination of stored water and caregivers’ hands. Gaining access to piped water was associated with a 0.5 log10 reduction of E. coli concentration in drinking water (p < 0.05) but no changes in hand contamination. The piped water systems in this study reduced the median distance to a safe drinking water source by over 90%, but we measured only small improvements in microbiological outcomes and no changes in the duration of self-reported, in-home water storage. These findings emphasize the need for future impact assessments of piped water systems to measure a comprehensive set of indicators directly linked to human well-being such as time savings.

scholarly journals Rapid Detection of Legionella pneumophila in Drinking Water, Based on Filter Immunoassay and Chronoamperometric Measurement

Biosensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Josune J. Ezenarro ◽  
Noemí Párraga-Niño ◽  
Miquel Sabrià ◽  
Fancisco Javier Del Campo ◽  
Francesc-Xavier Muñoz-Pascual ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Legionella Pneumophila ◽  
Detection System ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Bacterial Concentration ◽  
Sample Concentration ◽  
Conventional Culture ◽  
Portable Detection ◽  
Freshwater Environments

Legionella is a pathogenic bacterium, ubiquitous in freshwater environments and able to colonise man-made water systems from which it can be transmitted to humans during outbreaks. The prevention of such outbreaks requires a fast, low cost, automated and often portable detection system. In this work, we present a combination of sample concentration, immunoassay detection, and measurement by chronoamperometry. A nitrocellulose microfiltration membrane is used as support for both the water sample concentration and the Legionella immunodetection. The horseradish peroxidase enzymatic label of the antibodies permits using the redox substrate 3,3′,5,5′-Tetramethylbenzidine to generate current changes proportional to the bacterial concentration present in drinking water. Carbon screen-printed electrodes are employed in the chronoamperometric measurements. Our system reduces the detection time: from the 10 days required by the conventional culture-based methods, to 2–3 h, which could be crucial to avoid outbreaks. Additionally, the system shows a linear response (R2 value of 0.99), being able to detect a range of Legionella concentrations between 101 and 104 cfu·mL−1 with a detection limit (LoD) of 4 cfu·mL−1.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Drinking Water Service of the ‘Off-Grid’ Community in Cimahi, Indonesia

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1398
Author(s):  
Rizky Prayoga ◽  
Anindrya Nastiti ◽  
Seth Schindler ◽  
Siska W. D. Kusumah ◽  
Arief D. Sutadian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Perceived Behavioral Control ◽  
Grid Systems ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Piped Water ◽  
Access To Water

The establishment of decentralized drinking water systems in urban areas is technically and financially feasible, and these 'off-grid' systems can complement investment in traditional piped water systems. However, users often see ‘off-grid’ systems as the second-best option, compared to citywide piped water systems. Thus, although they are designed to improve access to water and reduce inequality, they can be perceived by users as infrastructural manifestations of extant inequality. In this paper, we present original research on the perceptions of users in Cimahi, Indonesia, surrounding their access to water and willingness to use and maintain ‘off-grid’ infrastructure. The majority of respondents used groundwater and packaged water as their primary water sources, and paid approximately twice the maximum tariff of piped water service. We interpreted the survey data with the theory of planned behavior framework and determined that respondents demonstrated a willingness to pay fees for ‘off-grid’ water systems, participate in water supply programs, and switch to new water sources. These intentions were affected by their attitude towards the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control to various degrees. The findings are useful for those designing strategies to introduce novel water delivery systems aimed at improving water access for diverse and disadvantaged socioeconomic groups in urban areas in the Global South.

scholarly journals Summary of resources available to small water systems for meeting the 10 ppb arsenic drinking water limit.

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Lee Krumhansl ◽  
Bruce M Thomson ◽  
Matt Ziegler ◽  
Susan Butler ◽  
Heather Himmelberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Small Water ◽  
Small Water Systems
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document