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Facility Security

A Watertight Design

May 1, 2005By Jason Goodman

Engineering firm enters security market, guards drinking water

There was a time when Wunderlich-Malec, a Minnesota-based engineering, process control, and system integration firm, focused primarily on making sure production lines ran as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

The Heat is On

May 1, 2005By Mike Studer

Finding the resources to secure our most precious resource -- using thermal imaging cameras to guard water treatment plants

The lack of attacks launched against water treatment plants is by no means an indication that they are invincible. While treatment plants aren't typically seen as high profile targets, they are at risk of infiltration and/or sabotage. Plants, many of which are based in or near residential areas, purify water for vast regions. Destroying or disabling a single facility could devastate an entire national region for an indefinite amount of time and create a real sense of uneasiness among those forced to suffer without water for a long time to come.

Stemming the Tide of Terrorism

January 1, 2005By Robert M. Anderson, Esq., Paul C. Freeman, Esq.

Significant efforts are being undertaken at the federal level to protect the nation's drinking water resources from becoming a primary medium for terrorist attacks

Immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the city of New York and a group of federal, state, and local authorities took steps to secure and maintain the city's lifeline: its drinking water supply system.

Vulnerability Assessments: A Key to Water Security

May 1, 2004By Mike Flory, REM

Guidelines for keeping community water systems safe and secure

There is a bumper sticker that I see from time to time that reads "Water is Life." The sticker, I believe, originated from the Texas Water Commission, a former regulatory agency headquartered in Austin, Texas. There is quite an accurate statement on the sticker, as has become more apparent in today's world.

On the Alert

July 1, 2003By Robert Ferguson

Biosensors are being used as early warning systems to detect chemical contaminants in drinking water

Drinking water professionals know that the quality of raw or finished water supplies may be adversely impacted by a number of contaminants, including petroleum products from leaking tanks or pipelines, insecticides and herbicides from agricultural runoff, pathogens from untreated sewage discharges and others.

The First Line of Defense

May 1, 2003By Yong Kim, PhD

Disinfection and monitoring can be used as measures to protect drinking water plants against terrorism

Public drinking water plants seeking to guard against the threat of terrorist attacks might do well to review and enhance some of the technology they already have on site.

Homeland Defense and Security Resources

November 1, 2002By Water and Wastewater News Staff

The preparedness effort is moving ahead with so much information and so many perceived threats, it seems impossible to stay fully informed

Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Any device, material, or substance used in a manner, in a quantity or type, or under circumstances evidencing an intent to cause death or serious injury to persons or significant damage to property.

Working Around the Clock

May 1, 2002By Gary Binderim

Preventive measures, such as operation diligence, emergency response plans and effective technology safeguard against contamination

The safety of the nation's water is protected by a cooperative relationship between governments at every level and water producers and purveyors. The U.S. Congress makes national water policy and has authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement this policy by means of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, as it is periodically re-authorized and amended.