Engaging stakeholders to improve innovation in the water industry

The majority of our nation's drinking water suppliers are small systems serving 25 to 3,300 people. It was recognized by U.S. EPA that to bring these small community systems into satisfactory compliance would necessitate new thinking and flexibility in terms of technology applications. Unfortunately, innovation in public water systems (PWSs) that provide drinking water to consumers is lacking. This lack of innovation is not due to technological advancements but rather due to institutional constraints. These institutional constraints may be U.S. EPA regulations or state regulatory rules, but also cultural norms and career incentives that reward conservative choices by drinking water utilities in communities and regulators. These institutional constraints pose greater challenges for small and medium communities and even result in greater economic burdens and lower public health protection than for comparable large communities. This presentation will describe the process to develop design criteria for low-pressure membranes that Ohio EPA will use as a supplement to the 10 state standards with the goal of improving innovation for water utilities in Ohio. Particularly, the Ohio Water Resources Center (WRC) at Ohio State has been working in conjunction with Ohio AWWA, regulators (Ohio EPA and U.S. EPA), utilities, manufacturers, and design professionals to lay out a framework for the design criteria by performing the following tasks: 1. identifying and selecting a relevant emerging technology in collaboration with our partners; 2. contacting the regulators, design professionals, and manufacturers of these technologies and composing a list of where microfiltration or ultrafiltration is currently in operation; 3. collecting sufficient full-scale data from these operating systems; 4. determining operating parameter(s) used to develop design criteria; 5. drafting design criteria for discussion among Ohio WRC, Ohio EPA and Ohio AWWA; 6. working effectively in a consensus-building process with Ohio EPA and these other stakeholders to come to agreement on final design criteria to be used by Ohio EPA in its approval process. Success of this project will eliminate the currently required pre-design demonstration study (typically at the pilot scale) for low-pressure membranes – significantly reducing the cost and project schedule for small and medium PWSs in Ohio to install current treatment technologies that are more cost effective and appropriate for treating the associated source water. Continued communication of progress on the supplemental design criteria for low-pressure membranes ensures that the project receives valuable input from stakeholders and strengthens the final product to provide the greatest benefit to PWSs throughout Ohio. The presentation will inform audience members of the project learnings and inspire interest in further work to propel innovation in the water industry.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Zuzana Bohrerova, research specialist; associate director, Ohio State Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, [email protected] (Corresponding Author); Ohio Water Resources Center; Linda Weavers, professor and John C. Geupel Chair; co-director, Ohio State Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering; Ohio Water Resources Center; Timothy Wolfe, senior consultant and VP emeritus; adjunct faculty, Stantec Consulting Services, Inc; Ohio State Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering; Megan Patterson, graduate research associate; Environmental EIT, Ohio State Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.The majority of drinking water suppliers in the United States are small systems serving 25 to 3,300 people. Innovation in public water systems (PWSs) is lacking, not due to technological advancements, but rather due to institutional constraints that pose greater challenges for small and medium communities and result in greater economic burdens and lower public health protection than for large communities. The Ohio Water Resources Center (WRC) is developing design criteria for a treatment technology that Ohio EPA will use as a supplement to the 10 state standards. Success of this project will eliminate the currently required pre-design demonstration study for low-pressure membranes – significantly reducing the cost and project schedule for small and medium PWSs in Ohio to install this technology where it is more cost effective and appropriate. We will inform audience members of the project learnings and inspire interest in further work to propel innovation in the water industry

Structured Ethical Review for Wastewater-Based Testing in Support of Public Health

Wastewater-based testing (WBT) for SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly expanded over the past three years due to its ability to provide a comprehensive measurement of disease prevalence independent of clinical testing. The development and simultaneous application of WBT measured biomarkers for research activities and for the pursuit of public health goals, both areas with well-established ethical frameworks. Currently, WBT practitioners do not employ a standardized ethical review process, introducing the potential for adverse outcomes for WBT professionals and community members. To address this deficiency, an interdisciplinary workshop developed a framework for a structured ethical review of WBT. The workshop employed a consensus approach to create this framework as a set of 11 questions derived from primarily public health guidance. This study retrospectively applied these questions to SARS-CoV-2 monitoring programs covering the emergent phase of the pandemic (3/2020–2/2022 (n = 53)). Of note, 43% of answers highlight a lack of reported information to assess. Therefore, a systematic framework would at a minimum structure the communication of ethical considerations for applications of WBT. Consistent application of an ethical review will also assist in developing a practice of updating approaches and techniques to reflect the concerns held by both those practicing and those being monitored by WBT supported programs

Structured Ethical Review for Wastewater-Based Testing

Wastewater-based testing (WBT) for SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly expanded over the past three years due to its ability to provide a comprehensive measurement of disease prevalence independent of clinical testing. The development and simultaneous application of the field blurred the boundary between measuring biomarkers for research activities and for pursuit of public health goals, both areas with well-established ethical frameworks. Currently, WBT practitioners do not employ a standardized ethical review process (or associated data management safeguards), introducing the potential for adverse outcomes for WBT professionals and community members. To address this deficiency, an interdisciplinary group developed a framework for a structured ethical review of WBT. The workshop employed a consensus approach to create this framework as a set of 11-questions derived from primarily public health guidance because of the common exemption of wastewater samples to human subject research considerations. This study retrospectively applied the set of questions to peer- reviewed published reports on SARS-CoV-2 monitoring campaigns covering the emergent phase of the pandemic from March 2020 to February 2022 (n=53). Overall, 43% of the responses to the questions were unable to be assessed because of lack of reported information. It is therefore hypothesized that a systematic framework would at a minimum improve the communication of key ethical considerations for the application of WBT. Consistent application of a standardized ethical review will also assist in developing an engaged practice of critically applying and updating approaches and techniques to reflect the concerns held by both those practicing and being monitored by WBT supported campaigns. Development of a structured ethical review facilitates retrospective analysis of published studies and drafted scenarios in the context of wastewater-based testing