June 7, 2004—To protect the US drinking water supply, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is joining in research agreements with YSI, PureSense Environmental, and Hach Company to develop early warning detection devices for water distribution systems. Development of technology that can rapidly detect and identify unknown contaminants is critical to safeguarding the drinking water supply, treatment, and distribution infrastructures in US communities, says EPA. Key research areas are detection and identification of contaminants, response and mitigation, and prevention and protection.
The water quality sensor technologies and software in these research agreements may potentially be incorporated into an early warning system that will provide local water quality officials with a real time alert of intentional or accidental drinking water contamination. The sensors would produce readings that can be interpreted by the software, together forming an early warning system. Earlier detection of contamination can allow water quality officials to more effectively isolate and contain a problem before it migrates through the water distribution system.
For more information on EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center, visit EPA.
