Premise Plumbing Decontamination Research in EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program

Jeff Szabo
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Homeland Security Research Program (HSRP) conducts research to detect, respond to, and recover from the impacts of terrorist attacks, accidental contamination, and natural disasters on the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure. For many years, the HSRP has worked with the water sector on research to address high-priority needs, such as decontamination of drinking water distribution systems, after an intentional or unintentional contamination event. Decontamination research in the HSRP has historically focused on the water distribution infrastructure owned by water utilities, such as the large-diameter pipes that convey water from the treatment plant to communities and above-ground water storage tanks.