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Cincinnati's Drinking Water Contamination Warning System Goes Through Full‐scale Exercise
Author(s) -
Fencil Jeff,
Hartman David
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2009.tb09838.x
Subject(s) - contamination , warning system , agency (philosophy) , environmental science , water contamination , scale (ratio) , full scale , engineering , telecommunications , geography , ecology , philosophy , cartography , epistemology , biology , structural engineering
This article discusses an Oct. 1, 2008 full‐scale exercise of the Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) contamination warning system and associated consequence management plan. Conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under its Water Security (WS) initiative, the exercise was a scenario‐driven, real‐time simulation that implemented GCWW and local response partner agency protocols for detecting and responding to a drinking water contamination incident. The article provides a brief overview of the WS initiative, and contamination warning systems. The purpose of the exercise was to allow GCWW and response partner agencies to test their protocols for detecting and responding to a possible drinking water contamination incident. The exercise incorporated and evaluated all components of the GCWW contamination warning system, including routine operation, and consequence management. Exercise design, events synopsis, and outcomes are discussed.