Risk-causing scenarios in the water supply industry can be classified as either nonoperational
scenarios or operational scenarios. The former, which includes natural and
anthropogenic disasters, have been well studied using quantitative risk analysis and
vulnerability assessment methodologies. Their study will undoubtedly continue due to
recent financial allocations for infrastructure vulnerability assessments in the wake of last
year's terrorist attacks in the United States of America. For daily water supply operations,
however, utilities are concerned with operational failure events that result in decreased
production quality, quantity, and pressure without long-term disastrous consequences. In
spite of this concern, few methodologies for operational risk assessment currently exist.
This brief paper introduces the concept of conditional risk-based performance indicators
and demonstrates their application to the identification and quantification of operational
risk in the water supply industry. The utility of the methodology is demonstrated through
the examination of operational risks related to water quality at a full-scale treatment
facility in Canada. Through the application of conditional risk-based performance
indicators to historical operational data, utilities can identify raw water quality and
operational conditions that are more likely to cause system failure, lengthen failure
events, and increase the severity of failure. Includes 3 references, tables.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 250 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 5 |
| Published : | 06/15/2003 |
