Early Warning System Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Early Warning System Water - Essay Example Collignon(2007) points out that the protection of drinking water is achieved not only by chlorination, flocculation and other protective measures but also by the protection of water catchment areas through minimizing the entry of any kind of waste matter. Therefore if these catchment areas are infiltrated, there could be a collective risk posed through contamination of drinking water supplies. Crockett (2007) recently estimated that there is an endemic risk posed from drinking water, with the potential for 2 to 20 ML/d of waste water discharge containing pathogens to reach water supply intakes at significant concentrations that may exceed regulatory limits. Hence, normal procedures that are used for treatment of waste water may also be inadequate in some instances to provide an adequate level of protection against contamination of the water to an unacceptable level that could be dangerous to humans – to health and to lives. This highlights the importance of installing early warning systems for infiltration by biological agents, so that water supplies and distribution systems may be protected. The danger of the terrorist threat is especially potent, because vast areas of unprotected water system could form an easy target for the terrorists and it would result in large scale damages caused to numerous people who drink the water. It is a particularly dangerous form of terrorist biological warfare, which cannot be easily combated, except through adopting preventive measures. Hence, the incorporation of early warning systems into water systems could be of inestimable benefit, because they will provide a warning that contamination exists, sufficiently in time to enable the local authorities or responsible people in charge to alert citizens, so that the water suspected of being contaminated can be diverted and closed off, before it