The Utah Valley Water Treatment (UVWTP), which is operated by Central Utah Water
Conservancy District (the District), receives its raw water from a river intake and a 5-mile long
aqueduct. The river has a major interstate paralleling it through a winding narrow mountain
canyon. Because of this, vehicles including large freight trucks routinely end up in the river,
resulting in a potential spill event. Historically, the early warning for such an event consisted of
an uncertain reliance upon a phone call from the local emergency response agencies informing
the UVWTP of a spill into the river. This system has been fairly reliable, but had the potential
for failure if no call was made. In addition, natural changes in source water quality can have an
adverse effect on the treatment plant processes. With both of these objectives in mind, the
District concluded that a multiple barrier approach to early warning systems would be prudent.
The District then actively pursued an opportunity to participate in American Water Works
Research Foundation (AWWARF) Project #2527 "Design of Early Warning and Predictive
Source Water Monitoring Systems" in order to evaluate best available technology in early
warning systems. As a result, a District staff member was invited and became a Project Advisory
Committee (PAC) member of this project. This project provided valuable information, allowing
the District to make a well-informed decision on what types of early warnings systems would
best meet the District's needs.
The District decided to implement an early warning system, which would include enhancing
the historical emergency response communication program, predictive spill modeling, and
installation of a multiple detection system to include biological monitoring (daphnia toximeter
and passive fish monitoring), and online chemical analysis (basic water quality parameters,
oil/grease, and taste/odor). With the events of 9/11, coupled with the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics
(and venues in close proximity to our facilities), the District decided to fast track installation of
the planned early warning system and to also include video surveillance monitoring. The District
implemented some components of the early warning system and continues to implement planned
components of the system.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 250 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 5 |
| Published : | 06/16/2002 |
