To protect the nation's drinking water systems from a contamination event, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses innovative science to create planning systems for municipal water systems. EPA's National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) has created a planning tool for the security of drinking water systems that has been nominated for an award from the Edelman international research group. The NHSRC developed the Sensor Placement Optimization Tool (TEVA-SPOT) to compute the optimal number and location of sensors needed for an effective contamination warning system. Even municipalities that serve over a million customers can run the TEVA-SPOT program on a standard desktop computer.
The faster a contamination incident can be detected and isolated, the better public health can be protected. A well-designed contamination warning system may reduce the health impacts of a contamination instance by 90% and reduce the economic consequences by billions of dollars. TEVA-SPOT is currently used by select water utilities across the country.
"It is an honor for our work with TEVA-SPOT to be considered in this select group of finalists competing for the 2008 Franz Edelman Award," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By helping protect the nation's drinking water infrastructure, EPA is proving to be a guardian of our environment and a guardian of our homeland."
The project, developed in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Cincinnati, is one of six finalists for The Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research which recognizes outstanding projects internationally that transform entire industries and positively impact people's lives. Past winners include Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, General Motors and Motorola. This is the first time EPA has been a finalist. The winner of the Edelman Award will be announced April 14.
