Practical guidelines on requirements of continuous online water-quality monitoring system in drinking-water supply systems

Recurrent incidents around the world involving the contamination of water-supply systems and the inherent vulnerability of drinking-water networks to chemical, biological and radio nucleotide contamination has increased water utilities' awareness of the need for rapid and reliable detection of contamination events. Continuous water-quality monitoring is a proactive approach to monitoring water quality for potential contamination through the deployment of advanced technologies and enhanced surveillance to collect, integrate, analyse and communicate information, and is a fundamental element of the water-security plan. This guidance document is aimed at professionals of drinking water supply to support the implementation of such a continuous water-quality monitoring system in water utilities. It provides key definitions and briefly explains each of the components of such a system. For each component, the guidance describes the major points to be considered by the water utility before and during implementation. This document was prepared by the Chemical and Biological Risks to Drinking Water Thematic Group of the European Reference Network for Critical Infrastructure Protection (ERNCIP).