Detection of agents in water: Requirements and practical considerations

I&EC 21

Cathy Cleland, ccleland@lanl.gov, Alina Deshpande, deshpande_a@lanl.gov, and Kristin M. Omberg, komberg@lanl.gov. Decision Applications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM 87545
Protection of our water supply from contamination is a primary security concern. Water fuels every aspect of our lives, from our health to industry applications. Because of its importance, investments need to be made in securing the safety of our water supply. During the course of examining water security through our project, we have identified an overarching deficiency: the availability of technology to reliably detect the occurrence of a water contamination event (as part of a contamination warning system). The concept of a contamination warning systems is to enable officials to detect a contamination event in time to protect, warn, or treat a population. The heart of a contamination warning system is the technology: water sensors. Currently available on the market are water sensors strictly designed to assess water quality parameters such as temperature, pH, turbidity, to name a few. We will present a background on contamination warning systems for distribution systems along with requirements and practical considerations for protecting our water supply. Additionally, research areas of importance will be discussed.
 

Detection of Biological and Chemical Agents in Warfare and Food Safety (Sponsored by Novel Chemistry with Industrial Applications)
1:30 PM-4:30 PM, Sunday, 26 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- B313B, Oral

Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry

The 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 26-30, 2006