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

我研究的长期目标是开发决策支持工具，以不断提高饮用水供应的可靠性和可及性。在过去的5年里，我的NSERC-DG的主要重点是为大城市的供水系统（WSS）制定风险管理策略。然而，加拿大大约95%的WSS被归类为中小型水务公司（SMWU）。饮用水水质管理系统（DWQMS）需要有效地管理WSS及其相关危害的关键控制点。该研究计划提出了一种“持续绩效改进”的方法，用于在DWQMS中实施短期和长期资产管理战略。短期目标包括三个主题：（1）风险识别和业绩基准，（2）风险评估，（3）风险管理，以持续改进业绩。在这项研究中，原始数据（例如，地理因素、水质指标、结构可靠性、客户服务、人为和操作因素）将从NL、QC和BC的各种SMWU收集，这些SMWU充分代表了加拿大景观的固有变化，并有助于开发通用和可扩展的模型。在主题1中，将确定和制定"水质故障"风险的源到水龙头性能指标。这将有助于建立基于风险的绩效基准，并量化WSS中水质失败的整体风险。在主题2中，将评估季节和地理因素的影响，并将利用蝴蝶结分析法建立风险量化模型。这将导致确定适当的干预措施，并确定不同操作条件下的"剩余风险"。在主题3中，将进行生命周期效益-成本分析，以确定选定干预措施在其生命周期内的剩余风险、成本和环境影响。多目标优化将突出“最佳”风险管理策略，作为WSS中关键控制点的干预措施组合。这将推动最佳管理实践和政策指导方针，以制定全面的水安全计划，保证SMWU的持续绩效改进。在短期内，基准的建立是为了遵守现有的监管要求，但更严格的基准（例如，国际卫生准则、大城市的基准）。从长远来看，拟议的DWQMS将帮助表现不佳的水务公司不断提高业绩，并确保为加拿大人安全提供饮用水。这项研究为3名博士，3名MASc和5名UG学生提供了培训机会，并在丰富的学术环境中提供了一个水管理部门的PDF，并在整个计划中提供了相关的行业曝光。

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.******