Risk-based Drinking Water Quality Management System for Continuous Performance Improvement in Small to Medium-sized Water Utilities

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The long-term goal of my research is to develop decision support tools to continuously improve reliability and accessibility of drinking water supply. In the past 5 years, the primary focus of my NSERC-DG has been on developing risk management strategies for water supply systems (WSS) for large municipalities. However, about 95% of the WSS in Canada are categorized as small to medium-sized water utilities (SMWUs). A drinking water quality management system (DWQMS) is needed to effectively manage the critical control points in WSS and their associated hazards. This research program proposes a ‘continuous performance improvement’ approach for implementing short- and long-term asset management strategies within DWQMS. The short-term objectives encompass three main themes: (1) risk identification & performance benchmarking, (2) risk assessment, and (3) risk management for continuous performance improvement. In this research, raw data (e.g., geographical factors, water quality indicators, structural reliability, customer service, human and operational factors) will be collected from various SMWUs in NL, QC, and BC, which fully represent the inherent variability in Canadian landscape, and help in developing generalized and scalable models. In Theme 1, source to tap performance indicators for risk of 'water quality failures' will be identified and developed. This will help establish risk-based performance benchmarks and quantify overall risk of water quality failure in a WSS. In Theme 2, the impact of seasonal and geographical factors will be evaluated and a risk quantification model will be developed using bow-tie analysis. This will lead to identification of appropriate interventions and determine ‘residual risk’ under different operating conditions. In Theme 3, the lifecycle benefit-cost analysis will be performed to determine residual risk, cost and environmental impacts for the selected interventions over their lifecycle. Multi-objective optimization will highlight ‘best’ risk management strategy as a combination of interventions at critical control points in a WSS. This will drive best management practices and policy guidelines to build comprehensive water safety plans which guarantees continuous performance improvement of SMWUs. In the short-term, the benchmarks are established to comply with existing regulatory requirements but more stringent benchmarks (e.g., international health guidelines, benchmarks for large municipalities) will be set in the future years. In the long-term, the proposed DWQMS will help underperforming water utilities to continuously improve performance over time and ensure safe delivery of drinking water for Canadians. This research provides training opportunities for 3 PhD, 3 MASc and 5 UG students, and one PDF in water management sector within an enriching academic environment and with relevant industry exposure throughout the program.