Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

POTENTIAL CONTAMINATION AGENTS OF INTEREST

ROBERT M. CLARK

Cincinnati, Ohio

1 INTRODUCTION

There are nearly 60,000 community water supplies in the United States serving over 226 million people. Over 63% of these systems supply water to less then 2.4% of the population and 5.4% supply water to 78.5% of the population. Most of these systems provide water to less then 500 people. In addition, there are 140,000 noncommunity systems that serve schools, recreational areas, trailer parks, etc. [1]. Some of the common elements associated with water supply systems in the United States are as follows:

• Water source, which may be a surface impoundment such as a lake, reservoir, river, or ground water from an aquifer;
• Conventional treatment facilities, including filtration, which removes particulates and potentially pathogenic organisms, followed by disinfection, primarily for surface supplies;
• Transmissions systems, which include tunnels, reservoirs, and/or pumping facilities, and storage facilities;
• Distribution systems, carrying finished water through a system of water mains and subsidiary pipes to consumers.

2 WATER SYSTEM VULNERABILITY

Water systems are spatially diverse and therefore, have an inherent potential to be vulnerable to a variety of physical, chemical and biological threats that might compromise a systems’ ability to reliably deliver safe water. Community water supplies are designed to deliver water under pressure and generally supply most of the water for firefighting purposes. ...