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Project title

Comparative Assessment of source protection to improve water quality and drinking water treatment.

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Ryan Hanley Consulting Engineers

Lead Applicant

Monenna FitzGerald

Project Abstract

The recast Drinking Water Directive, recently published as S.I. 99 of 2023, has placed an increased focus on risk based source protection involving risk assessment and management of catchments, using the drinking water safety plans approach. Meanwhile, the catchment upstream of source water abstraction points are being affected by climate change and emerging pollutants, challenging the treatment efficacy of existing drinking water treatment plants and systems. Assessments of source protection costs tend to focus on the costs, rather than the potential savings in terms of the effect of reducing the load of contaminants on the water treatment plants. Alongside that, the costs associated with water treatment tend to focus on the current level of treatment, and not the potential additional costs associated with treatment of new emerging contaminants, many of which are of low molecular weight requiring specialist treatment technologies with expensive CAPEX and OPEX costs to remove or oxidise. The impacts of climate change on the raw water quality source water abstractions are also likely to result in increasing costs of water treatment systems. The project will consider national and international source protection / catchment management trials to date, with respect to their success in the reduction /mitigation of organic pollutants and new emerging contaminants in source waters to establish the most effective source protection techniques. The project will also establish a suite of potential treatment options for organic and inorganic contaminants of different molecular weight and establish a cost benefit analysis of all feasible options. The concept of this project is to look at the provision of safe and secure drinking water holistically, from source to tap, considering all relevant measures, the costs and savings associated with each step in the process. The project will result in recommendations for source protection, using catchment risk assessment and management techniques, inherent in the Drinking Water Safety Plan approach vis-à-vis additional drinking water treatment comparing cost benefit analyses of both approaches. Environmental, societal and economic sustainability are key objectives of this project that will underpin any derived project recommendations.

Grant Approved

�98,680.34

Research Hub

Healthy Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

01/03/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

28/02/2025