Pilot and Full-Scale Filtration Investigations of Pathogen and Index Organism Removal During Drinking Water Treatment: Enabling Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Utility Management

The City of Ottawa is proactive in its drinking water treatment practices and has worked with Health Canada in developing frameworks for integration of quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRA) into drinking water treatment decision-making. While considerable data necessary for applying QMRA in Ottawa are available regarding protozoan pathogens and treatment indicators during various periods of filter operation, significantly less information regarding bacterial and viral pathogens is available. In response to this need, pilot- and full-scale filtration experiments will be conducted using a suite of pathogen (i.e. disease causing bacteria, virus, and protozoan) indicators to evaluate and optimize filter performance. The resulting data will contribute to QMRA approaches to assess the importance of this barrier relative to other key pathogen treatment process; most notably, disinfection. This work will contribute critical operational information to better the management of public health risk from disease causing organisms.

Faculty Supervisor:

Monica Emelko

Student:

Partner:

City of Ottawa

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Public administration

University:

University of Waterloo

Program: