Factors in reliable treatment plant operation for the production of safe water

This contribution to the International Congress on Production of Safe Water, Izmir, Turkey, 20–24 January, 2009, relates to general aspects of a water supply undertaking rather than to particular technologies or chemistries for water treatment. The paper offers a “creative problem solving” approach following Fogler and LeBlanc (Strategies for creative problem solving. Prentice Hall, NJ, 1995) as a model for generating sustainable solutions when water quality and safety problems arise. Such a structured approach presents a systematic methodology that can promote communication and goal-sharing across the inter-related, but often isolated and dispersed, functions of water scientists and researchers, engineers, operations managers, government departments and communities. A problem-solving strategy, or “heuristic”, invokes five main steps (define; generate; decide; implement; evaluate). Associated with each step are various creative and enabling techniques, many of which are quite familiar to us in one form or another, but which we can use more effectively in combination and through our increased awareness and practice. For example, taking a fresh view of a problem can be promoted by a variety of “lateral thinking” tools. First-hand investigation of a problem can trigger new thinking about the real problem and its origins. A good strategy implementation will always address each and every step (though not necessarily every possible technique) and will use them at various stages in the search for and implementation of solutions. The creative nature of our experience with a problem-solving heuristic develops our facility to cope better with complex formal situations, as well as with less formal or everyday problem situations. A few anecdotes are presented that illustrate some of the author’s experiences relating to factors involved in safe water supply. Here, the term “factors” may signify people and organisations as agents, as well as meaning those aspects of a problem situation that need to be taken into account.