Water sector infrastructure consisting of water and waste water systems, has an extensive history of implementing policies and programs to provide safe and clean water, therefore, protecting and improving public health and environment across the nation. Under the guidance of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), for above thirty years, drinking water and waste water services have been carrying out routines to survey ways to improve water quality testing techniques. (Sullivan, 2011). The sector’s public health, security, environmental and resilience efforts form a profound approach to make available safe drinking water, safeguard public health and the economic vitality of the Nation. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was developed in U.S. to assist and protect the Nation’s essential Water Sector Infrastructure.
The Water Sector Specific Plan was initially released in 2007 to address multinational serious infrastructure protection implementation strategies for safe drinking water and waste water services. The collection of procedural assistance partners and their regulatory dominance agencies.
GOALS
Water quality and safe drinking water are prerequisite to everyday life. An occurrence in the Water Sector has crucial impacts on public confidence. Enhancing and fostering the relationship between the governments, (States, 2010). The public and utilities help to mitigate negative perceptions in the face of an event.
With an improved understanding of concepts threats, vulnerability, and consequences, operators and owners of the services thoroughly continue to examine and implement risk based approaches to detect, protect and recover from hazards better.
The nation relies on sustained treatment of waste water and availability of safe drinking water to maintain environmental protection and public health. For the betterment of the environmental protection and public health, Water Sector works to ensure that there is continuity of both waste water and drinking water services
Always Water Sector explores how to optimize stability of operations to ensure the economic strength of communities and the utilities that supply them with their needs. Response and recovery from an incident in the Water Sector is crucial to maintain environmental quality, public health and confidence
Vision
The Water Sector Specific Plan vision is a secure and resilient drinking water and waste water infrastructure that provides safe and clean drinking water as an integral part of daily life, ensuring public confidence and the economic vitality in the Nation’s drinking water and waste water utilities through a layered defense of efficient preparedness and security practices in the sector
Safe and quality drinking water is a prerequisite for human daily activities such as washing and cooking among others. (Friedlander, 1979). Properly treated wastewater is crucial for preventing waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera and malaria, as well as protecting the environment. Ensuring continuity of safe drinking water and waste water treatment and services are essential to modern life and Nation’s Economy worldwide. It is, therefore, essential to protect and increase the resilience of the Nation’s drinking and waste water infrastructure (water sector). Water sector partners collaborate to be well prepared to detect, prevent, respond to, and recover from all hazards approaches. These hazards include natural disasters, terrorist attacks, among other intentional acts.
A drinking water contamination event disrupts public health, economic, and the environment. Critical services such as heating and cooling processes, fire protection and health care would be as well disrupted. (Clark, 2011). Extensive systems of rules and regulations governing greatest contamination, construction and operating standards, emergency response planning, monitoring, research, training, and education to create awareness have been developed to protect the drinking water supply and receiving waters.
Wastewater
Disruption of waste water treatment service can lead to negative economic effects, loss of life and severe environmental degradation and public health. Wastewater is mostly treated by Public Owned Treatment Works (POWTs) and private sectors to collectively treat domestic sewage and provide waste water treatment and services to millions of people in the U.S.
The absence of drinking water and wastewater services, drinking water contamination, and prolonged services interruption to interdependent and dependent assets have negative impacts.
Strengths
- Treated water is a source that will save capital in the sense that public members are not at the risk of water borne diseases thus do not spend money on hospital bills
- There is existence of different levels of water treatment plants. This contributes to distribution of clean and safe water to millions of people from all sectors
- Water sectors collaborate so as to prevent and respond to all hazards approaches. This contributes to provision of clean and safe water
- There is existence of Environmental Protection Agency designed for the protection water and waste water infrastructures in an all hazard context.
- There is existence of frameworks to protect all Critical Infrastructures and Key Resources
- Environmental Protection Agency coordinates its protection and resilience efforts thus improving the quality of water. (Water 2012).
- There’s an increased public health status. Due to availability of safe and clean water, public health s improved thus improving the human welfare and wellbeing.
- Environmental conservation: the existence of rules and regulations facilitate the conservation and protection of the environment
Weaknesses
- Directing specific capacity building is not properly available in the Water Sector
- The Water Sector cannot concentrate its efforts of being a regulator due to subordination, conflicting policies and disintegration of institutions.
- Inadequate development of various global funded projects
- Absence of clear mechanisms to enforce rules as well as conflicts and overlaps of entities involved in the water sector
- Underutilization of the National Water Council
- The absence of environmental and water awareness regarding resources
- Poor participation of interest groups in developing and implementation of the project women and divided groups such as youths are not involved in decision makings concerning water services programs.
- The sanitation sector is not a priority of the Water Sector
- Lack of awareness on the political level on the topic of sanitation
- The high cost of establishing sanitation projects and networks
- Lack of clear strategy to manage the sanitation sectors
Clark, R. M., Hakim, S., & Ostfeld, A. (2011). Handbook of water and wastewater systems protection. New York: Springer.
Friedlander, R. A., Levie, H. S., Musch, D. J., Alexander, Y., & Lovelace, D. C. (1979). Terrorism: Documents of international and local control. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y: Oceana Publications.
States, S. (2010). Security and emergency planning for water and wastewater utilities. Denver, Colo: American Water Works Association.
Sullivan, T. F. P., & Bell, C. L. (2011). Environmental law handbook. Lanham, Md: Government Institutes.
Water Environment Federation. (2012). Safety health and security in wastewater systems. Alexandria, VA: WEF Press.
