WATER SYSTEM SAFETY
and the associated increase in vulnerable individuals at greatest risk from OPPPs. It is up to facility managers, plumbing material manufacturers, and service-providers, to work together to find ways to mitigate the associated risks of OPPP contamination of their buildings’ potable water systems. This may include: n Establishing a cross-functional Water Quality Risk Management (WQRM) team that has sufficient knowledge to assess the risks and create an operational plan to better manage them.
n Continuous surveillance and monitoring of both heated and cold water temperatures throughout the whole water distribution system.
n Operational monitoring of low water movement and stagnation at distal points throughout the whole water distribution system. Monitoring of disinfection strategies and effectiveness at maintaining appropriate chlorine residual at high-risk locations in the building premise plumbing system.
n Optimisation of building plumbing system design to minimise deadlegs and ensure regular replenishment of water to all distal points throughout the system.
n Selection of compliant WaterMark plumbing products that employ intelligent technology and automation to ensure that water will be regularly purged, reducing stagnation and metal leaching risks.
n Continuous operational monitoring of the water distribution system that will alert when the system has identified outlets that present high-risk conditions (i.e. temperature, stagnation, chlorine residual), in order to initiate effective, actionable control measures and responses to mitigate the identified risks.
References 1 Laschon E. Perth Children’s Hospital lead contamination in water pipes supplying site, audit finds. ABC News, 24 April 2017.
https://tinyurl.com/2p88ujtt
2 Kines L. Greater Victoria schools get lead out of water with new drinking fountains. Times Colonist, 6 September 2018.
https://tinyurl.com/tzyf67bv
3 Edwards M. Fetal Death and Reduced Birth Rates Associated with Exposure to Lead-Contaminated Drinking Water. Environ Sci Technol 2014; 48 (1): 739-46.
4 Edwards M, Triantafyllidou S, Best D. Elevated Blood Lead in Young Children Due to Lead-Contaminated Drinking Water: Washington, DC 2001-2004. Environ Sci Technol 2009; 43 (5): 1618- 1623.
5 Hanna-Attisha M, Lachance J, Sadler RC, Champney Schnepp A. Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children Associated With the Flint Drinking Water Crisis: A Spatial Analysis of Risk and Public Health Response. Am J Public Health 2016; 106
August 2022 Health Estate Journal 31 (2): 283–290.
6 Australian Building Codes Board. Lead in plumbing products in contact with drinking water: Consultation Regulation Impact Statement, 2020.
7 Taylor MP, Harvey PJ, Morrison AL. Lead in plumbing products and materials. MQ Centre for Energy and Environmental Contaminants Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 2018.
8 Department of Health, Victoria. Surveillance of notifiable infectious diseases in Victoria, 2011-2014. 2018; pp 1-222.
9 World Health Organization. Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment: Application for Water Safety Management, 2016.
https://tinyurl.com/bddkeyrf
10 United States Environmental Protection Agency. Lead: Human Exposure and Health Risk Assessment for Selected Case Studies 2007, 2. https://tinyurl. com/46m3sxuf
11 Zartarian V, Xue J, Tornero-Velez R, Brown J. Children’s Lead Exposure: A Multimedia Modeling Analysis to Guide Public Health Decision-Making. Environ Health Perspect 2017; Sep 12; 125 (9): 097009.
12 Nishiuchi Y, Iwamoto T, Maruyama F. Infection Sources of a Common Non- tuberculous Mycobacterial Pathogen, Mycobacterium avium Complex. Front Med (Lausanne) 2017; Mar 7;4:27.
13 Gebert MJ, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Oliverio AM, Webster TM, Nichols LM, Honda J. R, et al. Ecological Analyses of Mycobacteria in Showerhead Biofilms and Their Relevance to Human Health. mBio 2018; Oct 30: 9 (5).
14 Prince DS, Peterson DD, Steiner RM, Gottlieb JE, Scott R, Israel HL et al. Infection with Mycobacterium avium complex in patients without predisposing conditions. N Engl J Med 1989; 321 (13): 863-868.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
