Abstract:
Research has suggested that residents of Alabama's Black Belt are at elevated risk of waterborne disease due to a problem with failing septic tanks in the area. At the same time, cities and towns across the nation are realizing the dire need for replacing and rehabilitating America's declining water infrastructure to protect public health. An EPA-STAR project is being conducted in three Black Belt counties to further assess the situation and help local water utilities combat the increased risk of contamination. Water loss, low pressure, low chlorine, high residence time, and presence of total coliforms were used as indicators to assess which service areas of one Black Belt system were most likely vulnerable to contamination. Collected data from 195 households within the system and simulated data from an EPANET model of the system were used for the analysis. The results identified the regions with the highest prevalence of these indicators and suggested further system level sampling to evaluate if the problem is more associated with system water mains or households.
