WaterVal and CalVal: meeting the need for universal validation guidance
WaterRA has recently collaborated on an article on two important water validation initiatives: WaterVal and Calval.
Potable reuse is a significant component of resilient water supplies globally.
To support its uptake – and protect public health – treatment barrier performance must be validated for the removal of chemical and microbial contaminants.
Currently, there are variations between existing potable reuse regulations, validation guidelines, and validation protocols, as well as considerable gaps in the scientific knowledge needed to develop, extend, and harmonize these guidelines and protocols.
The WaterVal framework, originally developed in Australia to streamline the validation of water reuse treatment barriers, has the potential to fill this gap and serve as a universal umbrella program, providing a template for the development of treatment barrier validation protocols. It specifies nine elements that must be addressed to ensure consistency and uniformity in treatment barrier performance when targeting pathogen and chemical contaminant removal.
CalVal, an initiative to develop guidance for potable reuse in the state of California (USA), has built on these efforts to provide best practices for the design, operation, and reporting of various treatment barriers used in potable reuse schemes. Collaborative efforts between CalVal and WaterVal will help identify and address knowledge gaps to inform validation frameworks and operational recommendations.
You can read the article in full in Volume 16, issue 2 or Water Reuse, from IWA Publishing (1 June edition). WaterRA’s Research Manager Marty Hancock is the lead author, joined by co-authors Jessica Deng; Tim Dinh; Stuart Khan; Andrew Salveson; David Sheehan; R. Shane Trussell; and Matthew E. Verbyla.
Stay tuned for more from us on WaterVal, as we continue work in this important space. You can also take a look at the current validation protocols (with more to come) and contact our Research Team if you are interested to join the development of new projects in this space.