Potable Water Service

Drinking Water Management System

Waterfront Moama Water Treatment Plant (WMWTP) has developed a Drinking Water Management System consistent with the Framework for Management of Drinking Water Quality in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011 (ADWG) These are some of the strictest drinking water guidelines in the world.

AUSTRALIAN DRINKING WATER GUIDELINES CHAPTER 4. FRAMEWORK FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF DRINKING WATER QUALITY: APPLICATION TO SMALL WATER SUPPLIES.

In this chapter of the ADWG a small water supplier is defined as those serving fewer than 1000 people. It states that for small suppliers it may not be economically feasible or practical to carry out all the recommendations of the ADWG. The chapter sets out how a small operator would conform to the ADWG. Waterfront Moama Water Treatment Plant is a small operator but aims to exceed the requirements of a small operator and provide to its customers the best quality water management system.

WATERFRONT MOAMA WATER TREATMENT PLANT POLICY

Waterfront Moama Water Treatment Plant is committed to managing its water supply effectively to provide a safe, high quality drinking water that consistently meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG), consumer and other regulatory requirements.

To achieve this, in partnership with other stakeholders and relevant agencies, we will:

Manage water quality at all points along the delivery chain from the source of the water to the consumer;
Use a risk based approach in which potential threats to water quality are identified and balanced;
Integrate the needs and expectations of consumers, stakeholders, regulators, and operators into planning;
Establish regular monitoring of the quality of the drinking water and effective reporting mechanisms to provide relevant and timely information and promote confidence in the water supply and its management;
Develop appropriate contingency planning and incident response capability
Continuously improve our practices by assessing performance against these policies and stakeholder expectations;
Implement and maintain a drinking water quality management system consistent with the ADWG to manage effectively the risks to drinking water quality;
Everyone involved in the supply of drinking water at Waterfront Moama WTP are responsible for understanding, implementing, maintaining and continuously improving the drinking water quality management system.

WMWTP REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS

Identify and document all relevant regulatory and formal requirements.
Ensure responsibilities are understood and communicated to the operators.
Review requirements periodically to reflect any changes

Table 2.1a Regulatory and Formal Requirements summary

DRINKING WATER QUALITY MONITORING

The WTP has contracted Advanced Environmental Systems to conduct all water quality monitoring.
The sampling plan for each characteristic, including the location and frequency of sampling is documented and recorded.
Results are maintained and reported annually to NSW Health

CONSUMER SATISFACTION

Consumer satisfaction is generally verified by an absence of complaints. Consumer satisfaction non-conformities include consumer enquiries relating to taste, odour, colour, air, particles, pressure, flow and suspected illness.
Consumer complaints relating directly to water quality (taste, odour, dirty water, air in water), suspected water safety concerns and potential indirect water quality issues (low pressure) are received by the WMWTP and recorded on the Corrective Action Form.
If WMWTP operators are able to resolve consumer enquiries, no further action may be required. If consumer complaint is unable to be resolved at operator level the director is notified and an action plan developed to resolve the issue.
Follow up contact with the consumer post complaint is made and the outcome recorded.
All complaints are recorded and reported annually to the local public health unit.

SHORT TERM EVALUATION OF RESULTS AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

Water quality test results are reviewed by the WMWTP’s Operator when the results become available from Advanced Environmental Systems. The results received from ALS include any exceedances. The operator uses the ADWG for any corrective actions and records all actions and results on Corrective Action Forms.

All exceedances and corrective actions are reported to the Director immediately for further action.

ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY DATA

Water quality information will be collected from the town water supplied to consumers. Results of water testing will be recorded and these results are reported to the local Public Health Unit annually.
Finished water supplied to consumers will be collected and analysed as per the NSW Health Drinking Water Monitoring Program. Health-‐related water quality exceedances will be reported to the Murray River Council and local Public Health Unit by email.
Water Quality Data will be analysed for any trends or issues.

HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT

The methodology to be used for the hazard identification and risk assessment will follow the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
Risks posed by each of the events will be assessed, through a consideration of likelihood and consequence, as per the ADWG example, reproduced here for ease of reference.
Significant risk will be identified, measured for priority, documented and managed. The hazard identification and risk assessment system will be reviewed annually and as risk is identified or changes.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND MULTIPLE BARRIERS

The preventive measures for the water supply system encompassed within the risk assessment are considered adequate to control the identified risks.
Improvement processes and other follow up actions will be recorded where risks are considered to need additional mitigation, as shown the Risk Assessment and as captured in the Improvement Plan.
The preventative measures and strategies in the Improvement Plan address each significant risk.

MANAGEMENT OF INCIDENT AND EMERGENCIES

In response to urgent and serious water quality issues, WMWTP follows the Corrective Action defined by AES. If that Corrective Action fails to contain the situation and broader notification is required, WMWTP will follow the guidance of NSW Health with respect to its recommended response protocols.
Contacts of key staff are kept within the WMWTP’s Disaster Plan. In general, any water quality incident would be handled initially by the Operator with other agencies being brought in to assist as required.
All exceedances and corrective actions are reported to the Director immediately.

INCIDENT AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROTOCOL

The WTP has established an Emergency Response Plan and documented the plan.
The following protocols are accessible to WMWTP to guide the response of WMWTP and the Public Health Unit in the event of water quality incidents:
NSW Health Response Protocol: for the management of physical and chemical quality.
NSW Health Response Protocol: for the management of microbiological quality of drinking water.
NSW Health Response Protocol: following failure in water treatment or detection of Giardia or Cryptosporidium in drinking water.
NSW Health Drinking Water Monitoring Program December 2005. Appendix 2 NSW Health Response Protocols (except where superseded by the above, more recent, protocols):

NSW Health Response protocol for the management of microbiological quality of drinking water:

Action on the detection of or coliform bacteria.

Action in response to a failure in treatment or disinfection, or rapidly changing source water quality.

DRINKING WATER QUALITY MONITORING

The WTP has contracted Advanced Environmental Systems to conduct all water quality monitoring.
The sampling plan for each characteristic, including the location and frequency of sampling is documented and recorded.
Results are maintained and reported annually to NSW Health

CONSUMER SATISFACTION

Consumer satisfaction is generally verified by an absence of complaints. Consumer satisfaction nonconformities include consumer enquiries relating to taste, odour, colour, air, particles, pressure, flow and suspected illness.
Consumer complaints relating directly to water quality (taste, odour, dirty water, air in water), suspected water safety concerns and potential indirect water quality issues (low pressure) are received by the WMWTP and recorded on the Corrective Action Form.
If WMWTP operators are able to resolve consumer enquiries, no further action may be required. If consumer complaint is unable to be resolved at operator level the director is notified and an action plan developed to resolve the issue.
Follow up contact with the consumer post complaint is made and the outcome recorded.
All complaints are recorded and reported annually to the local public health unit.

SHORT TERM EVALUATION OF RESULTS AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

Water quality test results are reviewed by the WMWTP’s Operator when the results become available from Advanced Environmental Systems. The results received from ALS include any exceedances. The operator uses the ADWG for any corrective actions and records all actions and results on Corrective Action Forms.

All exceedances and corrective actions are reported to the Director immediately for further action.

ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY DATA

Water quality information will be collected from the town water supplied to consumers. Results of water testing will be recorded and these results are reported to the local Public Health Unit annually.
Finished water supplied to consumers will be collected and analysed as per the NSW Health Drinking Water Monitoring Program. Health-‐related water quality exceedances will be reported to the Murray River Council and local Public Health Unit by email.
Water Quality Data will be analysed for any trends or issues.

HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT

The methodology to be used for the hazard identification and risk assessment will follow the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
Risks posed by each of the events will be assessed, through a consideration of likelihood and consequence, as per the ADWG example, reproduced here for ease of reference.
Significant risk will be identified, measured for priority, documented and managed. The hazard identification and risk assessment system will be reviewed annually and as risk is identified or changes.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND MULTIPLE BARRIERS

The preventive measures for the water supply system encompassed within the risk assessment are considered adequate to control the identified risks.
Improvement processes and other follow up actions will be recorded where risks are considered to need additional mitigation, as shown the Risk Assessment and as captured in the Improvement Plan.
The preventative measures and strategies in the Improvement Plan address each significant risk.

MANAGEMENT OF INCIDENT AND EMERGENCIES

In response to urgent and serious water quality issues, WMWTP follows the Corrective Action defined by AES. If that Corrective Action fails to contain the situation and broader notification is required, WMWTP will follow the guidance of NSW Health with respect to its recommended response protocols.
Contacts of key staff are kept within the WMWTP’s Disaster Plan. In general, any water quality incident would be handled initially by the Operator with other agencies being brought in to assist as required.
All exceedances and corrective actions are reported to the Director immediately.

INCIDENT AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROTOCOL

The WTP has established an Emergency Response Plan and documented the plan.
The following protocols are accessible to WMWTP to guide the response of WMWTP and the Public Health Unit in the event of water quality incidents:
NSW Health Response Protocol: for the management of physical and chemical quality.
NSW Health Response Protocol: for the management of microbiological quality of drinking water.
NSW Health Response Protocol: following failure in water treatment or detection of Giardia or Cryptosporidium in drinking water.
NSW Health Drinking Water Monitoring Program December 2005. Appendix 2 NSW Health Response Protocols (except where superseded by the above, more recent, protocols):

NSW Health Response protocol for the management of microbiological quality of drinking water:

Action on the detection of or coliform bacteria.

Action in response to a failure in treatment or disinfection, or rapidly changing source water quality.

BOIL WATER NOTICE

One of most common responses to foreseeable drinking water quality problems is to issue a boil water notice or provide other notification.
Notices would only be issued in liaison with the NSW Health Public Health Unit, and with consideration being given to the relevant guidance from NSW Health Water Unit, noted above.
The WMWTP would physically issue a boil water notice and in preparing such notices would make use of the NSW Health templates as starting points in preparing such notices:
Example Boil water alert for Cryptosporidium and or Giardia contamination
Example Boil Water Alert E. coli Contamination.

ONGOING DEVELOPMENT

WMWTP remains up to date through their involvement in industry bodies including the Australian Water Association and attendance at industry seminars and conferences.
Validation involves gathering objective evidence that the WMWTP is effective in providing safe, quality water. As systems are initiated they will be measured and validated.

·WMWTP acknowledges the importance of ensuring that equipment and infrastructure performs to meet the intended requirements and validates that through ensuring all equipment is fit for purpose through its maintenance programs. All new equipment purchased is investigated for reliability, endurance and state of the art performance.

REPORTING

Internal reporting in undertaken through meetings with operators and review of results, Action Plans, Improvement Plans, Corrective Actions and consumer and operator feedback.
WMWTP reports externally to NSW Health. Annual Reports are sent to NSW Health as well as any critical control point exceedance.

EVALUATION AND AUDIT

WMWTP undertakes reviews of the monitoring results to assess the performance of the system against numerical guideline values.
Annual Compliance Reports are sent to NSW Health.
The drinking water management system is internally and externally audited as required. It is noted that NSW Health can audit at any time so that WMWTP will maintain the DWMS in an audit-‐ready state.

REVIEW AND CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

WMWTP undertakes a review of the effectiveness of the management system annually.

DRINKING WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PLAN

A detailed list of Improvement Actions has been identified and documented in the Improvement Plan. Ongoing improvements identified will be documented and acted on.

One of most common responses to foreseeable drinking water quality problems is to issue a boil water notice or provide other notification.
Notices would only be issued in liaison with the NSW Health Public Health Unit, and with consideration being given to the relevant guidance from NSW Health Water Unit, noted above.
The WMWTP would physically issue a boil water notice and in preparing such notices would make use of the NSW Health templates as starting points in preparing such notices:
Example Boil water alert for Cryptosporidium and or Giardia contamination
Example Boil Water Alert E. coli Contamination.