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

Author

Listed:
  • 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • 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, 2009. "US Environmental Protection Agency Uses Operations Research to Reduce Contamination Risks in Drinking Water," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 57-68, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:39:y:2009:i:1:p:57-68
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1080.0415
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:bla:eurcho:v:8:y:2009:i:3:p:43-50 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kipp Martin, 2010. "Tutorial: COIN-OR: Software for the OR Community," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 40(6), pages 465-476, December.
    3. Alison L. Sexton Ward & Timothy K. M. Beatty, 2016. "Who Responds to Air Quality Alerts?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(2), pages 487-511, October.
    4. Christensen, Tove & Pedersen, Anders Branth & Nielsen, Helle Orstead & Morkbak, Morten Raun & Hasler, Berit & Denver, Sigrid, 2010. "How to increase the effectiveness of agri-environmental subsidy schemes through knowledge of farmer perceptions-a choice experiment on pesticide free buffer zones," 120th Seminar, September 2-4, 2010, Chania, Crete 109316, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Monroe, Jacob & Ramsey, Elizabeth & Berglund, Emily, 2018. "Allocating countermeasures to defend water distribution systems against terrorist attack," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 37-51.

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