Risk-Based Evaluation of Improvements in Drinking Water Treatment Using Cost-Benefit Analysis
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2022

Reliable and safe drinking water supply requires adequate risk management. Decision support models can aid decisionmakers to effectively evaluate risk mitigation measures and allocate societal resources. Here, a Swedish case study illustrates how the installation of ultrafiltration membranes can be evaluated by combining risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Quantitative microbial risk assessment was used to assess several contamination sources and estimate the achieved risk reduction from waterborne pathogens using Campylobacter, Norovirus, and Cryptosporidium as reference pathogens. The societal value of the improved water quality was estimated in the cost-benefit analysis by monetising the gained quality adjusted life years and aesthetic water quality improvements. The calculated net present value (mean of 7 MEUR) indicated that the installation of the ultrafiltration membranes was a sound investment from a societal economic perspective. The ultrafiltration membranes reduced the annual probability of infection from 3 × 10−2 to 10−7, well below the U.S. EPA’s acceptable level, as well as improving the aesthetic quality of the drinking water. The results provide a novel example of the importance for water distributors to consider not only health-related metrics when evaluating treatment options or monitoring the drinking water quality, but to also consider the aesthetic quality of the drinking water.

Quality adjusted life years (QALY)

Decision support

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA)

Willingness to pay (WTP)

Drinking water quality

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA)

Författare

Nils-Petter Sköld

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Geologi och geoteknik

Viktor Bergion

Geologi

Andreas Lindhe

Geologi

Alexander Keucken

Lunds universitet

Vatten & Miljö i Väst AB

Lars Rosen

Geologi

Water (Switzerland)

2073-4441 (ISSN) 20734441 (eISSN)

Vol. 14 5 782

Ämneskategorier

Vattenteknik

Oceanografi, hydrologi, vattenresurser

Miljövetenskap

DOI

10.3390/w14050782

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2022-03-15