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Risk-based approaches for safe and sustainable Drinking Water production and distribution chain

CS⁴@DICA, Politecnico di Milano

4^th December, 2023

Beatrice Cantoni, PhD

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

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Drinking water supply in urban context

WATER SOURCES

TREATMENT

DISTRIBUTION

CONSUMPTION

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Drinking water supply in urban context

WATER SOURCES

TREATMENT

DISTRIBUTION

CONSUMPTION

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Drinking water supply in urban context

WATER SOURCES

TREATMENT

DISTRIBUTION

CONSUMPTION

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Drinking water supply: SUSTAINABILITY

[Jungbluth et al., 2014]

Life-Cycle Assessment Comparison

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Drinking water supply: SUSTAINABILITY

[Jungbluth et al., 2014]

Life-Cycle Assessment Comparison

Italy is worldwide second country for bottled water consumption

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Drinking water supply: CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

WATER POLLUTION

CLIMATE CHANGE

SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

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Drinking water supply: CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

CONTAMINANTS OF EMERGING CONCERN (CECs)

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How can we handle emerging contaminants?

Assess current CECs risk

Prioritize interventions

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How can we handle emerging contaminants?

Assess current CECs risk

Prioritize interventions

Monitoring

Experiments

Risk assessment

Modelling

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How can we handle emerging contaminants?

Assess current CECs risk

Prioritize interventions

Monitoring

Experiments

Risk assessment

Modelling

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Risk assessment

EXPOSURE

HEALTH EFFECT

RISK

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Risk assessment

Concentration

DWTL

C_𝑬𝑿𝑷

From deterministic

Chemical Risk Assessment

(CRA)

EXPOSURE

HEALTH EFFECT

RISK

1 🡪 No Risk

1 🡪 Risk

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Risk assessment

Uncertainty on exposure

Uncertainty on hazard

Concentration

DWTL

C_𝑬𝑿𝑷

From deterministic

Chemical Risk Assessment

(CRA)

1 🡪 No Risk

1 🡪 Risk

To probabilistic

Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA)

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Risk assessment

Uncertainty on exposure

Uncertainty on hazard

Concentration

DWTL

C_𝑬𝑿𝑷

From deterministic

Chemical Risk Assessment

(CRA)

1 🡪 No Risk

1 🡪 Risk

To probabilistic

Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA)

P(BQ > 0.1)

P(BQ > 1)

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116911

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Risk-based comparison of tap and plastic bottled-water consumption

Target CECs: Alkylphenols and Phthalates

Collected data: - CECs concentration in tap and bottled water (87 literature papers)

- Worldwide drinking water consumption habits (23 literature papers)

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Risk-based comparison of tap and plastic bottled-water consumption

Target CECs: Alkylphenols and Phthalates

Collected data: - CECs concentration in tap and bottled water (87 literature papers)

- Worldwide drinking water consumption habits (23 literature papers)

PHTHALATES

Penserini et al., 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107294

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Risk-based comparison of tap and plastic bottled-water consumption

Target CECs: Alkylphenols and Phthalates

Collected data: - CECs concentration in tap and bottled water (87 literature papers)

- Worldwide drinking water consumption habits (23 literature papers)

PHTHALATES

Penserini et al., 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107294

Beatrice Cantoni

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Risk-based comparison of tap and plastic bottled-water consumption

Target CECs: Alkylphenols and Phthalates

Collected data: - CECs concentration in tap and bottled water (87 literature papers)

- Worldwide drinking water consumption habits (23 literature papers)

PHTHALATES

Penserini et al., 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107294

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How can we handle emerging contaminants?

Assess current CECs risk

Prioritize interventions

Monitoring

Experiments

Risk assessment

Modelling

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Interventions for risk minimization

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148821

WHAT: Performance analysis and optimization of

Granular Activated Carbon treatment

CECs: PFAS

NOVELTY: From Lab to Full-scale

WATER SOURCES

TREATMENT

DISTRIBUTION

CONSUMPTION

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Interventions for risk minimization

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116911

Time (t)

C_OUT/C_IN

Some background on Granular Activated Carbon treatment

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Interventions for risk minimization

Italian

Water Utility

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

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Interventions for risk minimization

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Milled and sieved ACs 🡪 d_{p, RSSCT}(e.g. 110 um)

EBCT_RSSCT (6.1 sec) 🡪 Flowrate (5.5 mL/min)

Down-scaling method

Constant diffusivity equation:

EBCT (average: 11 min)

d_p,LC(average: 1200 um)

Full scale

RSSCT

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Interventions for risk minimization

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148821

Experiments

Modelling

GAC SELECTION

CRITERIA

ONLINE MONITORING SYSTEM

CONFIGURATION SELECTION

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Interventions for risk minimization

WHAT: Evaluation of water-materials contact in drinking water distribution

CECs: Bisphenol A (BPA)

NOVELTY: Real testing conditions from lab to field

WATER SOURCES

TREATMENT

DISTRIBUTION

CONSUMPTION

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146908

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Interventions for risk minimization

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146908

2. BADGE polymerization with polyamines

Free BPA trapped into the lattice

1. BPA + Epichlorohydrin 🡪 BADGE

DWDN pipelines corrosion and need for renovation

Renovation through relining

with epoxy resins

Potential release of

bisphenol-A (BPA)

Potential health risk for BPA in DW

Endocrine disruptor

Effects on reproductive system

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Interventions for risk minimization

Cantoni et al., 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146908

Experiments

Modelling

Time [h]

BPA concentration [µg/L]

Time (h)

Concentration BPA [µg/L]

Risk

RESIN SELECTION

TESTING

DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK MONITORING

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NEXT STEPS TOWARDS SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY

WHEN MANAGING ACTIVATED CARBON ADSORPTION SHOULD WE MOVE

FROM SINGLE COMPOUNDS BREAKTHROUGH TO THE MIXTURE RISK BREAKTHROUGH

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NEXT STEPS TOWARDS SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY

INDIVIDUAL GRANT FOR

2-YEARS RESEARCH FUNDING

(09/2023-08/2025)

Climate

change

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Acknowledgements

What I like the most about being a researcher:

Research is collaboration, interdisciplinarity, networking, looking forward, sharing ideas, bringing innovation

safeWATER Lab

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Thank you for your attention!

Beatrice Cantoni, PhD

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

beatrice.cantoni@polimi.it

CS⁴@DICA, Politecnico di Milano

4^th December, 2023

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Applications of Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA)

Penserini et al., 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107294

Beatrice Cantoni

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Applications of Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA)

Penserini et al., 2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138259

WHAT: Risk-based comparison of drinking water and food consumption

WHO: Alkylphenols (BPA and NP)

NOVELTY: Multiple exposure risk assessment

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Applications of Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA)

Penserini et al., 2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138259

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PFAS Risk Assessment

PFAS are always seen as a mixture

PFAS have the same end-point

Traditional method based on EU-DWD

C_{lim, sum PFAS} = 0.1 μg/l

C_{out, sum PFAS}

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PFAS Risk Assessment

PFAS are always seen as a mixture

PFAS have the same end-point

Traditional method based on EU-DWD

But each PFAS has its own toxicity

Advanced method to consider toxicity

Toxicity is represented by the Relative Potency Factors (RPF) as proposed in EU Water Framework Directive

INCREASING TOXICITY

[Bill et al., 2021]

C_lim,_PFOA

C_{lim, sum PFAS} = 0.1 μg/l

C_{out, sum PFAS}

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PFAS Risk Assessment

An example of PFAS Risk assessment application for scenario analysis

Experiments

[Submitted to Process Safety and Environmental Protection]

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PFAS Risk Assessment

How PFAS risk ranking changes according to the applied risk assessment method?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

TRADITIONAL

METHOD

ADVANCED METHOD

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PFAS Risk Assessment

WHEN MANAGING ACTIVATED CARBON ADSORPTION SHOULD WE MOVE

FROM SINGLE COMPOUNDS BREAKTHROUGH TO THE MIXTURE RISK BREAKTHROUGH

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Risk assessment

Uncertainty on exposure

Uncertainty on hazard

Concentration

DWTL

C_𝑬𝑿𝑷

From deterministic

Chemical Risk Assessment

(CRA)

1 🡪 No Risk

1 🡪 Risk

To probabilistic

Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA)

P(BQ > 0.1)

P(BQ > 1)

Beatrice Cantoni

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