All treatment systems are subject to potential breakdown and human failure in operation and supervision. Operation, maintenance and supervision of treatment systems, improvement of technical capabilities and training programmes are therefore essential to ensure an acceptable quality water is supplied to consumers.
The operation and maintenance management of unit processes at a drinking water treatment plant should be undertaken in a manner that optimizes the use of equipment and resources involved. Each unit process of the water treatment plant may require:
- Adjusting the treatment and type and volume of reagents used, to the characteristics of the water or residues
- Ensuring the regular supply of treatment products, their correct storage and maintenance of recipients and dosing device
- Controlling the elimination of wastes and by-products
- Controlling the efficiencies of the processes and establishing and monitoring critical control points
An operations and maintenance plan should be developed for the drinking water treatment system. This plan should include required practises for both proactive and reactive activities. Activities should include:
- Operations (system control)
- Maintenance (servicing, inspection, rehabilitation, repair)
- Monitoring quality (source, through treatment, final)
- Troubleshooting and optimisation
- Documentation
The continuity of the drinking water supply to users is a priority for protecting health and the environment. An emergency plan should be formulated which takes into account the risks at a particular facility. This emergency plan should be tested and exercises should be conducted in order to train the operating personnel in managing emergency situations. Spare parts, mobile generators, water quality testing kits and other consumables are all required to ensure continuous and reliable operation of the water treatment system.
Transmission of diseases by treated water supplies can be ascribed to inappropriate treatment methods, failure in operation and supervision, or short comings in quality monitoring. Regular inspection of sanitary and hygienic aspects of raw water sources, treatment facilities and distribution networks is an important component of quality monitoring programmes.