Join us for a research outcomes webinar on Improving water quality analysis in response to extreme events.

Extreme events can have unpredictable effects on source water quality, both in terms of impacts on commonly measured water quality indicators, and the introduction of contaminants of emerging concern into catchment runoff. Though drinking water guidelines provide some direction on managing water quality during extreme events, the ability for water quality managers to make informed decisions can be compromised by the unpredictability of source water characteristics. This means that a water quality manager’s response can over or under-treat source water in a race to mitigate risks and contend with timelines that are often tight and complicated by community pressure to get services back online fast.

This project reviewed and summarised existing knowledge of impacts on source water quality expected from two common extreme events – bushfires and floods/storms. In addition to compiling analytes of immediate and long-term concern for water quality management during such extreme events, the project team reviewed standard and novel analytical methods for the determination of theses analytes. The report also presents the findings from a survey conducted to understand current water utility responses during bushfires and floods/storms.

This event, FREE and exclusively for WaterRA members, will provide an opportunity to learn more about the project outcomes, and recommendations to advance this research.