DRINKING-WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT: THE AUSTRALIAN FRAMEWORK

Abstract

The most effective means of assuring drinking-water quality and the protection of public health is through adoption of a preventive management approach that encompasses all steps in water production from catchment to consumer. However, the reliance of current regulatory structures on compliance monitoring of treated water tends to promote a reactive management style where corrective actions are initiated after monitoring reveals that prescribed levels have been exceeded, and generally after consumers have received the noncomplying water. Unfortunately, the important limitations of treated water monitoring are often not appreciated, and there is a widespread tendency to assume that intensification of compliance monitoring or lowering of compliance limits is an effective strategy to improving the protection of public health. To address these issues and emphasize the role of preventive system management, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council in collaboration with the Co-operative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment has developed a comprehensive quality management approach for drinking water. This Framework for Management of Drinking Water Quality will assist water suppliers in providing a higher level of assurance for drinking water quality and safety. The framework integrates quality and risk management principles, and provides a comprehensive, flexible, and proactive means of optimizing, drinking-water quality and protecting public health. It does not eliminate the requirement for compliance monitoring but allows it to be viewed in the proper perspective as providing verification that preventive measures are effective, rather than as the primary means of protecting public health.

The Framework for Management of Drinking Water Quality is a work in progress under the auspices of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Co-ordinating Group for the ongoing review of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The initial model was prepared by the CRC for Water Quality and Treatment. Members of the NHMRC Working Party on the Framework are: David Cunliffe (South Australian Department of Human Services, Chair of Working Party), Phil Callan (National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia). John Howard (South Australian Water Corporation), Steve Hrudey (University of Alberta, Canada), Samantha Rizak (Monash University), Martha Sinclair (Monash University), and Roslyn Vulcano (Northern Territory Power and Water Authority).

This paper is adapted from material presented at the 10th Canadian National Conference and 1st Policy Forum on Drinking Water (27–30 April 2002, Halifax), Drinking Water Quality Management: A Holistic Approach, by S. Rizak, S. Hrudey, and M. Sinclair.

Notes

*Formerly the Agricultural and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand (ARMCANZ).