New Standards Aim to Protect Water Supply
The nation's first standard guidelines for protecting the public from potential malevolent acts and other threats by enhancing the physical security of water and wastewater infrastructure systems were released recently for trial use by water and wastewater utilities.
The nation's first standard guidelines for protecting the public from potential malevolent acts and other threats by enhancing the physical security of water and wastewater infrastructure systems were released recently for trial use by water and wastewater utilities.
The voluntary standard guidelines—jointly developed by the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) with technical input from the Water Environment Federation (WEF)—are the result of Phase III of the Water Infrastructure Security Enhancements (WISE) program. They were created under ASCE's American National Standards Institute-accredited standards development program. Titled "Guidelines for the Physical Security of Water Utilities" and "Guidelines for the Physical Security of Wastewater/Stormwater Utilities," the draft guidelines are open for public comment and trial use until June 30, 2007, according to ASCE.
The guidelines provide drinking water, wastewater and stormwater utilities with practical information to help implement improved security measures in new and existing facilities of all sizes. The documents also address risks from construction and design perspectives and describe physical security approaches for detecting or delaying malevolent parties. The water guideline covers raw water facilities, wells and pumping stations, water treatment plants, water storage facilities, distribution systems and support facilities, according to ASCE. The wastewater/stormwater guideline focuses on collections systems, pump stations, wastewater treatment plants and support facilities.
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