Predicting Toxic Waste Concentrations in Community Drinking Water Supplies: Analysis of Vulnerability to Upstream Industrial Discharges

摘要

In February, 1978 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed amendments to the National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations to deal with the control of chloroform and synthetic organics in drinking water. In November, 1979 the regulation regarding synthetic organics was dropped because of the difficulty in defining, let alone assessing a community's vulnerability. The purpose of this study was to predict toxic waste concentrations in community drinking water supplies along the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers between Charleston, West Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio using QUAL-II, a water quality simulation model. The most important factors to consider in identifying vulnerable communities are: flow characteristics of the source of supply, potency and persitance of the pollutants, amount and timing of discharge of pollutants, storage times of utilities and relative location of point sources and community intakes.