Wildfires increasingly threaten public drinking water systems, but guidance on how to address damage to these systems from a wildfire has been insufficient, conflicting or inaccurate.
Wildfires increasingly threaten public drinking water systems, but guidance on how to address damage to these systems from a wildfire has been insufficient, conflicting or inaccurate.
A new publication offers the first comprehensive guidance for public drinking water system staff, outlining the decision-making process for testing and recovering water distribution systems after a wildfire. This guidance was authored by Purdue University engineers and published by The Water Research Foundation. Four water utilities in California also sponsored the publication.
Andrew Whelton, a Purdue professor of civil engineering and environmental and ecological engineering, led the development of this guidance. Whelton has traveled numerous times to the sites of wildfires in recent years and advised on how to respond to drinking water contamination.
The research papers Whelton and his team have published based on his testing of water samples at the sites of wildfires have become go-to resources for various groups handling the restoration of water distribution systems. The Water Research Foundation publication consolidates those key findings and lessons learned from previous wildfires.
Read more at Purdue University
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