Water destined to the human consumption: the system of control of the public waterworks
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Massimo Allegri, ASL Siena
The Local Health Authority (ASL) is responsible for local citizens’ health. The public health office carries out two types of water analysis :
- routine controls at regular intervals (2 controls per week for distribution networks) to obtain information about the organoleptic and microbiological quality of the water, as well as specific information on the effectiveness of any water treatment.
- mandatory controls to verify if all parameters comply with the values fixed by the law. All the parameters are subject to control, except those the Public-Health Office consider too improbable to occur in a specific type of water. There are 5 of these controls per year for distribution networks and 1 control per month for wells and sources. The water sampling points are : intake points of surface and underground waters, accumulation and distribution plants (reservoirs), distribution networks, water treatment plants, and tanks.
In emergency situations due to intentional pollution, the use of “spy” automatic detectors in the water network would undoubtedly be of great use. Moreover an emergency intervention plan should be developed to deal with such an event.
Newsletter 7 on Workshop 6: Risk management and training
