Secure Water Supply

摘要

Previous to 9-11, it was assumed that a combination of small-scale bench testing plus dimensional analysis would be sufficient to model fate and transport of chemical and biological (CB) contaminants in water systems. Water security is a life safety issue. Water supply systems on military installations and forward facilities are vulnerable to both conventional, industrial and military CB agent contamination by terrorists. The pre 9-11 generation of sensors could not directly detect many common CB agents, and the few sensors that could were very expensive. The pre 9-11 generation of water distribution simulations cannot correctly model CB agent uptake on the pipe walls of a distribution system. Therefore the outcome of an attack via CB agents in the water supply is not well understood. In the post 9-11 environment, the EPA, ECBC, and ERDC stakeholders concluded that the pre-existing fate and transport models should be updated to include results from meso-scale testing. The Water Security Research Test Loop (WSRTL) is designed to help update these models with meso-scale testing of fate and transport of CB agents. The WSRTL would also serve as a test-bed to facilitate new generations of sensor technology and water treatment technology.