scholarly journals Batten Down the Hatches—Assessing the Status of Emergency Preparedness Planning in the German Water Supply Sector with Statistical and Expert-Based Weighting

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 7177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Bross ◽  
Ina Wienand ◽  
Steffen Krause
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Analysis And Evaluation ◽  
Preparedness Planning ◽  
The Status ◽  
Weighting Methods

Emergency preparedness planning in the water supply sector includes preventive measures to minimize risks as well as aspects of crisis management. Various scenarios such as floods, power failures or even a pandemic should be considered. This article presents a newly developed composite indicator system to assess the status of emergency preparedness planning in the German water supply. Two weighting methods of the indicators are compared: the indicator system was applied to a case study and a Germany-representative data set. The results show that there is a need for action in emergency preparedness planning in the German water supply. This is in particular due to a lack of risk analyses and insufficient crisis management. Numerous water supply companies and municipalities are already well-prepared, however, there is a need for action at several levels, especially in the area of risk analysis and evaluation of measures. In Germany, responsibility for this lies primarily with the municipalities.

scholarly journals Evaluation of rural water supply sustainable operation and management based on cyclic correction framework – a case study of Chongqing, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linlin Fan ◽  
Yalong Li ◽  
Wenbing Luo ◽  
Wei Qiao ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Rural Water Supply ◽  
Sustainable Operation ◽  
Rural Water ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Operation And Management

Abstract After the construction of rural water supply projects, how to make them sustainably operated and managed has become the focus and difficulty of the current and future work of rural water supply. In order to evaluate the operation and management of rural water supply projects, a comprehensive indicator system of rural water supply projects sustainable operation and management was established, and a combinational evaluation model based on a cyclic correction framework was used in 13 pilot districts of Chongqing, China. The APH method was used to calculate the weight of each index. Two indexes with the highest weights are ‘establishment of management agency (0.1436)’ and ‘assurance level of operating funds (0.1382)’. Compared with the traditional individual evaluation model, the cyclic correction framework can effectively reduce the systematic deviation and random error in the evaluation process and make the research conclusion more reliable. The ranks of the districts in the main urban metropolitan part are higher, while the districts in the southeast and northeast of Chongqing are ranked relatively low. The top five districts were Rongchang, Yubei, Banan, Liangping, and Tongliang. In the future, the sustainable operation and management of rural water supply projects should be improved by enhancing the ability of the management agencies of rural water supply projects and increasing funding for project operation management.

scholarly journals Hospital Impact After a Chemical Spill That Compromised the Potable Water Supply: West Virginia, January 2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 621-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Hsu ◽  
Maria C. del Rosario ◽  
Erica Thomasson ◽  
Danae Bixler ◽  
Loretta Haddy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Preparedness Planning ◽  
Hospital Operations ◽  
Potable Water Supply ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Phenyl Ethers

AbstractIn January 2014, a chemical spill of 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol and propylene glycol phenyl ethers contaminated the potable water supply of approximately 300,000 West Virginia residents. To understand the spill’s impact on hospital operations, we surveyed representatives from 10 hospitals in the affected area during January 2014. We found that the spill-related loss of potable water affected many aspects of hospital patient care (eg, surgery, endoscopy, hemodialysis, and infection control of Clostridium difficile). Hospital emergency preparedness planning could be enhanced by specifying alternative sources of potable water sufficient for hemodialysis, C. difficile infection control, and hospital processing and cleaning needs (in addition to drinking water). (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:621–624)

A Case Study of Salmonellosis Linked to the Consumption of Fresh-market Tomatoes and the Development of a HACCP Program

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 551e-551
Author(s):  
James W. Rushing
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Fresh Market ◽  
Private Industry ◽  
Safety Committee ◽  
The Status

Outbreaks of salmonellosis in the United States in 1991 and 1993 were epidemiologically linked to the consumption of raw tomatoes that originated from the same fresh-market tomato packinghouse in both years. This is a case study of the response of public agencies and an industry association to a food safety crisis and the ensuring development, implementation, monitoring, and verification of a HACCP program that was proposed to serve as a model for the fresh-market tomato industry. Challenges faced by regulatory agencies in monitoring the operations of fresh-market fruit and vegetable handling facilities are discussed. Activities of an interagency food safety committee that was formed to deal with crisis management are described. The status of current research by private industry on safety related issues is briefly reviewed.

Varied Responses to Human-Induced Seismicity in the City of Azle, Texas

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sarmistha R. Majumdar
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Prior History ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
The Status

Fracking has helped to usher in an era of energy abundance in the United States. This advanced drilling procedure has helped the nation to attain the status of the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world, but some of its negative externalities, such as human-induced seismicity, can no longer be ignored. The occurrence of earthquakes in communities located at proximity to disposal wells with no prior history of seismicity has shocked residents and have caused damages to properties. It has evoked individuals’ resentment against the practice of injection of fracking’s wastewater under pressure into underground disposal wells. Though the oil and gas companies have denied the existence of a link between such a practice and earthquakes and the local and state governments have delayed their responses to the unforeseen seismic events, the issue has gained in prominence among researchers, affected community residents, and the media. This case study has offered a glimpse into the varied responses of stakeholders to human-induced seismicity in a small city in the state of Texas. It is evident from this case study that although individuals’ complaints and protests from a small community may not be successful in bringing about statewide changes in regulatory policies on disposal of fracking’s wastewater, they can add to the public pressure on the state government to do something to address the problem in a state that supports fracking.

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS CASE STUDY OF 2012 INDIAN OCEAN EARTHQUAKES ON THAILAND’S

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raya Muttarak ◽  
Wiraporn Pothisiri
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Disaster Experience ◽  
Individual Household ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Individual

In this paper we investigate how well residents of the Andaman coast in Phang Nga province, Thailand, are prepared for earthquakes and tsunami. It is hypothesized that formal education can promote disaster preparedness because education enhances individual cognitive and learning skills, as well as access to information. A survey was conducted of 557 households in the areas that received tsunami warnings following the Indian Ocean earthquakes on 11 April 2012. Interviews were carried out during the period of numerous aftershocks, which put residents in the region on high alert. The respondents were asked what emergency preparedness measures they had taken following the 11 April earthquakes. Using the partial proportional odds model, the paper investigates determinants of personal disaster preparedness measured as the number of preparedness actions taken. Controlling for village effects, we find that formal education, measured at the individual, household, and community levels, has a positive relationship with taking preparedness measures. For the survey group without past disaster experience, the education level of household members is positively related to disaster preparedness. The findings also show that disaster related training is most effective for individuals with high educational attainment. Furthermore, living in a community with a higher proportion of women who have at least a secondary education increases the likelihood of disaster preparedness. In conclusion, we found that formal education can increase disaster preparedness and reduce vulnerability to natural hazards.

PERSIAN GARDENS IN COLD AND DRY CLIMATE: A CASE STUDY OF TABRIZ’S HISTORICAL GARDENS

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Ahad Nejad Ebrahimi ◽  
Farnaz Nazarzadeh ◽  
Elnaz Nazarzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Natural Substrate ◽  
Garden Design ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
North West ◽  
Special Expertise

Throughout history, gardens and garden designing has been in the attention of Persian architects who had special expertise in the construction of gardens. The appearance of Islam and allegories of paradise taken from that in Koran and Saints’ sayings gave spirituality to garden construction. Climate conditions have also had an important role in this respect but little research has been done about it and most of the investigations have referred to spiritual aspects and forms of garden. The cold and dry climate that has enveloped parts of West and North West of Iran has many gardens with different forms and functions, which have not been paid much attention to by studies done so far. The aim of this paper is to identify the features and specifications of cold and dry climate gardens with an emphasis on Tabriz’s Gardens.  Due to its natural and strategic situation, Tabriz has always been in the attention of governments throughout history; travellers and tourists have mentioned Tabriz as a city that has beautiful gardens. But, the earthquakes and wars have left no remains of those beautiful gardens. This investigation, by a comparative study of the climates in Iran and the effect of those climates on the formation of gardens and garden design, tries to identify the features and characteristics of gardens in cold and dry climate. The method of study is interpretive-historical on the basis of written documents and historic features and field study of existing gardens in this climate. The results show that, with respect to natural substrate, vegetation, the form of water supply, and the general form of the garden; gardens in dry and cold climate are different from gardens in other climates.

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