Investigation on Hertfordshire Water Supply Contamination Essay

Investigation on Hertfordshire Water Supply Contamination - Essay Example In order to maintain the admissible levels of contaminants and to supply water that is safe for the common people, there are drinking water standards that different water supply systems are required to follow (Zaslow & Herman, 1996). Such an issue of water contamination is also reflected by the case of Hertfordshire water supply, the Chalk Aquifer where a public water supply system got affected by bromated contamination that posed problems with leakage in the site in the year 2000. The accepted standard for bromated in water is 10Â µg/l (Quevauiller & Thompson, 2006, p.40), while in the concerned case, the concentration has been known to reach a level of around 150Â µg/l (Fitzpatrick et al, n.d.). Bromate contamination is of serious concern it is a carcinogenic in nature and pollutes the water drastically (Hill, 2010, p.292). Thus the bromate contamination in the case of Hertfordshire water supply and the leakage in the site of Sandridge near St Albans calls for significant investi gation and study to understand the causes, the situation as well as to find out relevant recommendations for the recovery of the condition, which is the primary concern of the current research and study. The Investigation and Assessment of the Contaminated Site: The investigation and assessment of the contaminated site in the case of Hertfordshire water supply would include the following major steps: (a) identifying the process that has been used in the plant, (b) identifying and assessing how the spillage of bromate occurred, (c) using the different parameters - process indicators, the notification of occurrence of unwanted events, and indicators related to public health – to understand how the plant might have been negligent in some respects that led to the incident, (d) assessing the monitoring measures applied in the plant, and (e) identifying how the plant might have responded to the occurrence of the incident. (a) Process used in the Hertfordshire Water Supply: Studies reflect that the Chalk Aquifer presents a huge source of drinking water (Dassargues, 2000, p.195) for a major part of Greater London. The water is primarily supplied from the rainfall in the region of Hertfordshire (Ellis & Bertrand-Krajewski, 2009, p.112). If an overview of Hertfordshire’s present situation related to the water supply and treatment can be presented, it would reflect the status as in the following figure (Figure 1). Status Current Status Future Expectation Water Framework Directive Moderate Good status has been obtained by around 24 percent of the water bodies. The Hertfordshire rivers determine the low or high quality of the water bodies It is expected that the water bodies in the region have plans to satisfy the ecological needs of the environment by 2027. Quality of Water Moderate The river lengths that have been achieving high grades have shown increase since 1990. The water bodies have been focused on the appropriate treatment of the sewages. Serious rec ords of pollution have not been obtained since 2009. Diffuse pollution risks are still high. Plans to reduce the risks of diffuse pollution. Absolutely no records of serious pollution and reduction of any pollution incidents. Continue with the sewage treatment measures. Figure 1: Overview of Hertfordshire’s water supply and treatment (Allum & Dixon, 2010, pp.3-4). This study reflects a serious factor that the water supply system in the Hertfordshire is concerned about the pollution and the contamination and thus the processes followed are focused on the reduction of such incidents. This also hints that when the bromate contamination