The security and safety of the drinking water distribution system has recently generated concern. Accidental and intentional contamination by chemical, biological and radiological contaminants could cause major consequences for the consumer because clean water is critical to the nations infrastructure. An attack on the water supply could disable an entire city. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a system to monitor the water quality to ensure the water is safe for consumption.
In an attempt to protect the water systems, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) initiated research to test the various instruments within a Contaminant Warning System (CWS). The system measures water quality and triggers an alarm for deviation in the quality. The different methods of detection utilized in the study include turbidity, chlorine, pH, conductivity, TOC, Online gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, ultra violet transmittance, biomonitor, and a pathogen identification system.
The contaminants were pumped into the pilot distribution system CWS, and the responses of a variety of online monitors were evaluated. The contaminants range from fluorosilicic acid, which is used to increase the fluoride concentration of water, to a nonpathogenic species of Bacillus, which could serve as a model for Bacillus anthracis, the bacterial species that causes the disease anthrax. The system was connected to main transmission lines that feed downtown Pittsburgh with drinking water. While many of the monitors detected one or more contaminants, at least one of the devices used in the pilot distribution system CWS responded all of the contaminants.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-02272009-134749 |
| Date | 29 June 2009 |
| Creators | Hohman, Brittany Dawn |
| Contributors | Dr. Eoin Syron, Dr. Willie Harper, Jr., Dr. Leonard Casson, Dr. Jason Monnell, Dr. Stanley States |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-02272009-134749/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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