Book Description
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the application of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, a risk management tool, to better protect water quality in distribution systems. BACKGROUND: HACCP was first conceived in 1959 by the Pillsbury Company to improve food safety for NASA & rsquo;s manned space missions. Since the 1980s, HACCP has been widely adopted by the food and beverage industry worldwide, where it forms an important part of their food safety plans. Since the mid-1990s, HACCP has been applied by a number of individual drinking water systems and has been incorporated into many drinking water regulatory requirements and guidelines around the globe. HIGHLIGHTS: Project pilot studies illustrated that HACCP can be applied to water distribution systems, but time and resource requirements were greater than anticipated. Project case studies showed that most utilities that achieved HACCP certification had first implemented ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 or similar systems to gain management control of people and processes. The case study utilities operated one integrated management system including the ISO systems as well as HACCP to avoid duplication of tasks, reduce staff time and costs, and improve process integration. All case study utilities believed that, overall, the benefits of the HACCP system outweighed the costs.
