OVERVIEW

Water treatment plant security is now a requirement for operation of a water facility. Water utilities are viewed as part of the critical infrastructure of any society. As such, they have to be protected to ensure a supply of safe drinking water, as well as sufficient water for fire protection and industry.

Any contamination of the water supply or interruption of the distribution of the water to customers will have a grave effect on the population and on business operations.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated that all water utilities serving over 3,300 people develop a risk assessment of their operations. Those assessments determined what functions and assets of the utilities were most critical and what the system vulnerabilities were. Countermeasure options were developed to reduce the risk.

Real concerns about water system security were raised when intelligence was developed that members of the al Qaeda terrorist network had discussed plans to attack the U.S. drinking water supply. While no specific information indicating that an attack was imminent or that any specific target, systems, or location had been identified, two potential attack scenarios were discussed by the terrorist.

One scenario was the disruption of water delivery through a physical attack on the water supply infrastructure, while the other involved the introduction of chemical or biological agents into water distribution systems and posttreatment facilities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security determined...