Piped Drinking Water Sampling Plan for Small Water Systems in Singapore - A Regulator's Perspective

摘要

Small piped drinking water systems pose a unique challenge to the regulatory authorities since thenowners/operators of such systems often lack technical expertise, resources and organizational controls to effectivelynoperate their treatment systems, unlike the large utilities that have the economy of scale to address these issues in annoptimal manner. With the discovery of new non-conventional sources of water and the continuous development ofnlow-cost water treatment processes, the number of small suppliers is likely to grow worldwide in the future, especiallynin those remote areas/islands where drinking water is not easily available. In order to ensure that these suppliers are ablento detect any health risk to the consumers in a timely manner, it is imperative to develop a water sampling plan that isncomprehensive enough, yet flexible and practical to implement. This paper highlights Singapore’s regulatory experiencenin prescribing, developing and monitoring the implementation of piped water sampling plans by small water suppliers.