Journal article
Identifying and aggregating high-quality pathogen data: a new approach for potable reuse regulatory development
Environmental science water research & technology
14 Apr 2023
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
To address decreasing water supplies, several regulatory entities are developing regulations and guidance for the direct potable reuse (DPR) of wastewater, i.e., potable reuse with a limited or no environmental buffer. One key area of concern is pathogen control since a single exposure to pathogens can result in illness. To determine the necessary level of treatment for pathogens, one must first know the concentration of pathogens in the source wastewater. In 2019 through 2021, a 14-month pathogen monitoring campaign was conducted across California resulting in one of the largest, high-quality datasets of pathogens in raw wastewater. This dataset can be made even more robust if combined with other high-quality datasets that capture pathogen concentrations over larger time spans and geographic locations. This paper develops a framework for identifying and incorporating high-quality datasets into single, aggregated distributions. Criteria to identify high-quality pathogen datasets were established and used to screen the literature resulting in six studies that met the minimum data-quality bar. A method to aggregate these datasets into single log-normal distributions was developed. This method overcomes challenges such as aggregating data collected with different laboratory methods, different method sensitivities, and different dataset sizes. The authors recommend that regulatory agencies use the aggregated datasets in probabilistic assessments of pathogen treatment requirements for DPR. The data quality criteria and data aggregation method could also be used to incorporate results from future pathogen monitoring studies.
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Details
- Title
- Identifying and aggregating high-quality pathogen data: a new approach for potable reuse regulatory development
- Creators
- Emily Darby - Trussell Technol Inc, Oakland, CA 94612 USAAdam Olivieri - EOA Inc, Oakland, CA USACharles Haas - Drexel UniversityGeorge Di Giovanni - Metropolitan Water Dist Southern Calif, Los Angeles, CA USAWalter Jakubowski - WaltJay Consulting, Spokane, WA USAMenu Leddy - The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical GardensKara L. Nelson - University of California, BerkeleyChannah Rock - University of ArizonaTheresa Slifko - Metropolitan Water Dist Southern Calif, Los Angeles, CA USABrian M. Pecson - Trussell Technol Inc, Oakland, CA 94612 USA
- Publication Details
- Environmental science water research & technology
- Publisher
- Royal Soc Chemistry
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- 4989 / Water Research Foundation
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000971168800001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85153512477
- Other Identifier
- 991020522100504721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Engineering, Environmental
- Environmental Sciences
- Water Resources