Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Terrorism Protection of Our Community Water Systems

Terrorism Protection of our Community Water Systems

There are approximately 170,000 public water systems in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies water systems as follows:
  • Very Small water systems serve 25-500 people
  • Small water systems serve 501-3,300 people
  • Medium water systems serve 3,301-10,000 people
  • Large water systems serve 10,001-100,000 people
  • Very Large water systems serve 100,001+ people

The EPA classifies water systems using the following categories:
  • Community Water System (CWS): A public water system that supplies water to the same population year-round.
  • Non-Transient Non-Community Water System (NTNCWS): A public water system that regularly supplies water to at least 25 of the same people at least six months per year, but not year-round. Some examples are schools, factories, office buildings, and hospitals which have their own water systems.
  • Transient Non-Community Water System (TNCWS): A public water system that provides water in a place such as a gas station or campground where people do not remain for long periods of time.

As of the year 2000, fifteen percent of CWS are very large, large, or medium, serving ninety percent of those who get their water from a CWS. Eighty-five percent of CWS are small or very small, serving ten percent of those who get their water from a CWS. Approximately 45,000 CWS are very small or small.
  • 54,064 CWS served 263.9 million people
  • 19,738 NTNCWS served 6.9 million people
  • 93,210 TNCWS served 12.9 million people

These systems include an estimated 700,000 miles of pipes that deliver water to U. S. homes and businesses, according to a recent US News and World Report (August, 2002) article by Marianne Lavelle and Joshua Kurlantzick.

This shows the scope of the problem in the United States. The above was excerpted from Practical Guide to Water Supply and Terrorism, A Reference for Water Systems, by H. Court Young, ISBN: 1-893478-07-6, $14.95, BurgYoung Publishing.

This book is available at: http://www.waterconflicts.com and http://www.understandingwaterandterroism.com

H. Court Young
Author and Publisher
http://www.tmcco.com

posted by H. Court Young @ 4:30 PM 0 comments