Water securityWater security test bed to focus on bolstering municipal water security
Water is the foundation for life. People use water every single day to meet their domestic, industrial, agricultural, medical, and recreational needs. After the September 2001 terrorist attacks, water system security became a higher priority in the United States. The Water Security Test Bed (WSTB) at Idaho national Laboratory can be used for research related to detecting and decontaminating chemical, biological, or radiological agents following an intentional or natural disaster. The WSTB will focus on improving America’s ability to safeguard the nation’s water systems, and respond to contamination incidents and to natural disasters.
When it comes to infrastructure security, the focus is often likely to be on computer networks or the electrical grid, the importance of which nobody can rationally dispute. Still, what do people rely on even more than money in the bank or lights on in their homes?
Water.
Water is the foundation for life. People use water every single day to meet their domestic, industrial, agricultural, medical, and recreational needs.
Americans often take for granted the availability of clean, safe water, which is crucial for the health and prosperity of our nation. To help ensure our water security, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has built the Water Security Test Bed (WSTB) at Idaho national Laboratoryto focus on improving America’s ability to safeguard our water systems, and to respond to contamination incidents and to natural disasters. INL says that research at the WSTB will help develop methods for decontaminating pipes and equipment and designing a better, more resilient infrastructure.
“Nothing can bring a community or region to its knees faster than the loss of potable water,” said Mike Carpenter, the INL program manager for the WSTB.
A community with disrupted water for any amount of time is going to feel the pain, from both health and economic perspectives. Getting clean, safe water back in service as quickly as possible is always a priority.
For example, when a tank at Freedom Industries in Charleston, West Virginia, leaked 7,500 gallons of methylcyclohexane methanol (a chemical used in cleaning coal) into the nearby Elk River in January 2014, up to 400,000 people in nine counties were without access to potable water for several days. Industries that relied on clean water, such as the food and beverage industry, were also affected (see “The 9 January chemical leak in West Virginia is the latest in a long history of industrial accidents,” HSNW, 30 January 2014).
After the September 2001 terrorist attacks, water system security became a higher priority in the United States. The WSTB can be used for research related to detecting and decontaminating chemical, biological, or radiological agents following an intentional or natural disaster. In fact, as water systems become more automated, scientists are adding a cybersecurity research element to the WSTB to test and create a better, more secure infrastructure.
