Abstract
An adequate and secure drinking water supply is one of the key components of infrastructure in developed countries. This infrastructure has been developed over a number of decades and will continue to evolve. For those who provide this vital service, it is important to think about what things may look like several decades from now, to facilitate intelligent planning and development. A glance at the past tells us that it is impossible to predict specific technological developments that may occur several decades from now. However the basic paradigm that describes public water supply (choose the best possible source, design and operate adequate treatment, provide secure distribution, conduct adequate monitoring, and respond appropriately to an adverse monitoring result) will still be relevant. Each of these five elements has technical, institutional and human aspects that are all important for the development and maintenance of robust systems. Using this paradigm, this article discusses important trends that can guide us in developing and improving water supplies over the next several decades.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Calgary Herald (2013) http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/alberta-floods-2013/index.html. Accessed 2 Sept 2013
Douglas I (2011) Description of the Health Canada QMRA model. Presented at the Health Canada and University of Toronto NSERC IRC workshop: use and application of quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) in drinking water treatment, Toronto, 24 June 2011
Haas CN, Rose JB, Gerba CP (1999) Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment. Wiley, New York
Hrudey SE, Payment P, Huck PM, Gillham RW, Hrudey EJ (2003) A fatal waterborne disease epidemic in Walkerton, Ontario: comparison with other waterborne outbreaks in the developed world. Water Sci Technol 47(3):7–14
Huck PM, Coffey BM (2004) The importance of robustness in drinking-water systems. J Toxicol Environ Health Part A 67(20–22):1581–1590
Huck PM, Gagnon GA (2004) Understanding the distribution system as a bioreactor: a framework for managing HPC levels. Int J Food Microbiol 92(3):347–353
Huck PM, Sozański MM (2011) Chemical basis for water technology. In: Wilderer P (ed) Treatise on Water Science, vol 1. Academic Press, Oxford, pp 429–469
Li T (2004) Quantifying robustness of water treatment systems. Master’s thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
MacKenzie WR, Hoxie NJ, Proctor ME, Gradus MS, Blair KA, Peterson DE, Kazmierczak JJ, Addiss DG, Fox KR, Rose JB et al (1994) A massive outbreak in Milwaukee of cryptosporidium infection transmitted through the public water supply. N Engl J Med 331(3):161–167 (Erratum in N Engl J Med 331(15):1035)
O’Connor DR (2002) Report of the Walkerton inquiry, part 1: the events of May 2000 and related issues. Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, 504 pp plus appendices
Sozański MM, Huck PM (2007) Conduct of investigations for the design of drinking water treatment plants. Monograph published by the Polish Academy of Sciences (in Polish), 200 pp
Urfer D (2013) Personal communication
US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2002) Effects of water age on distribution system water quality. Office of Water (4601 M), 17 p
Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge helpful discussions with various individuals, and in particular to mention William B. Anderson. James Merritt provided helpful review comments, and the author would also like to thank the reviewers selected by the editor. Dana Herriman provided assistance with final manuscript preparation. The Industrial Research Chair that the author leads is supported jointly by the Chair’s partners (www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/watertreatment) and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Disclaimer
The mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for their use by the author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Huck, P.M. (2015). Drinking Water Treatment and Supply in Developed Countries in 2045—Where Will We Be?. In: Hipel, K., Fang, L., Cullmann, J., Bristow, M. (eds) Conflict Resolution in Water Resources and Environmental Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14215-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14215-9_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14214-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14215-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)