Practical guidelines on the requirements of a 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).JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

Guidance for production of a Water Security Plan in drinking water supply

Although the European Directive 2008/114/EC on protection of critical infrastructures has not designated the water supply sector as a critical infrastructure, all governments recognise their water supply as vital to their national security. Water systems are vulnerable to unintentional and intentional threats, which can include physical acts of sabotage, cyber-attack on information or SCADA systems, and contamination. In the face of an anomalous situation of contamination of drinking water, it is essential to minimise the impact of potential health risks during and after the emergency. This document provides guidance to water utility operators on assessing the risks they face, and on the factors to consider for improving their detection capabilities. Guidance is also provided on the preparation of response and recovery plans in the case of a contamination event. Water security planning will help to identify security vulnerabilities and establish security measures in water supply systems to detect intentional contamination, including a communication strategy to facilitate a fast and effective response. Where a water safety plan already exists, the water security planning should be integrated with the safety plan approach. The first step in water security planning is for the water utility operator to assess its risks to threats of deliberate contamination of the drinking water, with the risk assessment providing the basis for the design and implementation of the Water Security Plan. Through this risk assessment process, a target protection level could be set, with utility operators identifying the benefits of installing sensors in the network together with an event detection software and/or procedure. Criteria such as time to detect contamination, and the volume of contaminated water supplied will help to identify sensor deployment options. The recommended structure for the creation and maintenance of a Water Security comprises four phases: Phase 1 – Planning and preparation Phase 2 – Protection: Event detection and confirmation Phase 3 – Response: Planning and management of the event Phase 4 – Remediation and recovery Planning and preparation will include creation and maintenance of the Water Security Plan, allocation of roles and responsibilities, undertaking risk assessments to identify the mitigation and security measures, and performing the relevant training and exercising. When an emergency occurs, it is vital not to waste time deciding how to act, and debating what to communicate to consumers. Advance planning for an emergency will help to mitigate the impacts by faster communication and implementation of mitigation measures. Event detection involves the monitoring of indicators, and immediate response in case of a potential contamination, leading up to confirmation of the nature of the event. For the identification of possible emergency situations, water utility operators rely on information from monitoring and control systems, which can quickly identify an anomalous situation, and from information from various external sources. Online contamination warning systems is one focus of water security planning, along with customer complaint monitoring, public health surveillance, and enhanced security. Online contamination monitoring offers the best opportunity to minimize the consequences of intentional contamination, although to ensure timely detection of contamination, it must be integrated with routine operational monitoring. The immediate response in the event of a confirmed contamination is critical, involving communication with the public and with local/national emergency authorities to ensure a safe drinking water supply. This phase is followed by the remedial activities that lead to a full return to normal service of uncontaminated drinking water. The remediation and rehabilitation plan forms the final section of the Water Security Plan, and will need to be developed after the contamination incident is confirmed, and the full extent is determined. Regular revision of the water security plan forms an essential part of its lifecycle. All drinking water systems have some degree of vulnerability to contamination, with experience indicating that the threat of deliberate contamination is real. While steps can be taken to prevent intentional contamination, it is impossible to completely eliminate this risk, and therefore water utility operators need to consider developing and implementing a Water Security Plan.JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

Sucrose Synthase and Fructokinase Are Required for Proper Meristematic and Vascular Development

Sucrose synthase (SuSy) and fructokinase (FRK) work together to control carbohydrate flux in sink tissues. SuSy cleaves sucrose into fructose and UDP-glucose; whereas FRK phosphorylates fructose. Previous results have shown that suppression of the SUS1,3&4 genes by SUS-RNAi alters auxin transport in the shoot apical meristems of tomato plants and affects cotyledons and leaf structure; whereas antisense suppression of FRK2 affects vascular development. To explore the joint developmental roles of SuSy and FRK, we crossed SUS-RNAi plants with FRK2-antisense plants to create double-mutant plants. The double-mutant plants exhibited novel phenotypes that were absent from the parent lines. About a third of the plants showed arrested shoot apical meristem around the transition to flowering and developed ectopic meristems. Use of the auxin reporter DR5::VENUS revealed a significantly reduced auxin response in the shoot apical meristems of the double-mutant, indicating that auxin levels were low. Altered inflorescence phyllotaxis and significant disorientation of vascular tissues were also observed. In addition, the fruits and the seeds of the double-mutant plants were very small and the seeds had very low germination rates. These results show that SUS1,3&4 and FRK2 enzymes are jointly essential for proper meristematic and vascular development, and for fruit and seed development

IL-1alpha and IL-1beta recruit different myeloid cells and promote different stages of sterile inflammation.

Item does not contain fulltextThe immune system has evolved to protect the host from invading pathogens and to maintain tissue homeostasis. Although the inflammatory process involving pathogens is well documented, the intrinsic compounds that initiate sterile inflammation and how its progression is mediated are still not clear. Because tissue injury is usually associated with ischemia and the accompanied hypoxia, the microenvironment of various pathologies involves anaerobic metabolites and products of necrotic cells. In the current study, we assessed in a comparative manner the role of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta in the initiation and propagation of sterile inflammation induced by products of hypoxic cells. We found that following hypoxia, the precursor form of IL-1alpha, and not IL-1beta, is upregulated and subsequently released from dying cells. Using an inflammation-monitoring system consisting of Matrigel mixed with supernatants of hypoxic cells, we noted accumulation of IL-1alpha in the initial phase, which correlated with the infiltration of neutrophils, and the expression of IL-1beta correlated with later migration of macrophages. In addition, we were able to show that IL-1 molecules from cells transfected with either precursor IL-1alpha or mature IL-1beta can recruit neutrophils or macrophages, respectively. Taken together, these data suggest that IL-1alpha, released from dying cells, initiates sterile inflammation by inducing recruitment of neutrophils, whereas IL-1beta promotes the recruitment and retention of macrophages. Overall, our data provide new insight into the biology of IL-1 molecules as well as on the regulation of sterile inflammation