Why water quality research remains a vital priority in Australia today
Date
2014
Authors
Dawe, J.
Bowman, J.
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Journal article
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Water, 2014; 41(2):78-86
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Introduction: Have you ever wondered what keeps CEOs and regulators awake at night? As well as how to fix leaky pipes, it's the possibility of a water quality incident. Direct costs of a major incident, although significant, are only part of the price borne by the community, which includes the costs of loss of life and injury as well as the costs to the community of behaviours associated with a loss in confidence in their water utility and its ability to provide safe water. Water quality, access, safety and reliability of supply are among the ongoing challenges for the Australian water industry, and we should be reminded that safe, clean water takes effort and investment and should not be taken for granted. Therefore, by necessity, water quality research is an ongoing core business activity for watersuppliers across Australia, enabling them to respond to known issues and address ways in which to deal with new challenges.
Focused research is considered industry-wide to provide an "insurance policy", mitigating risk of water quality incidents and building stakeholder trust. Avoidance of one water quality incident is estimated as saving $100 million, while improvements in community trust have been estimated as avoiding $300 million in unnecessary expenditure.
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Copyright 2014 Australian Water Association (http://www.awa.asn.au/AWA_MBRR/ContentAreas/Terms_of_use.aspx)
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