An online Microbial Risk Assessment Tool to manage the discharge of microbial pathogens to land near drinking water wells
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Webinar
Land use activities that occur within a source water risk management area (aka source protection zone) near drinking water supply wells have the potential to impact health risks associated with drinking water. To aid in decision making The Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA) tool has been jointly developed by ESR and GNS and funded by Envirolink Tools.
Developed to cater to the needs of regional councils and other organisations in New Zealand, the MRA tool allows users to assess the risk posed by several pathogens including norovirus, E.coli, and Campylobacter. It considers a range of potential sources, including on-site wastewater management systems (e.g. septic tanks), dairy farms, stormwater systems, and more.
The tool has been designed as an interactive web application where the user is able to specify all relevant input such as land use scenarios, climate, and soil/vadose zone/aquifer depth and type. Multiple land use scenarios can be selected at once. The tool then provides a rapid and simple analysis of the microbial risks in any selected context, so that the entire spectrum from risk averse to risk tolerant solutions can be considered.
Join panelists Dr Allanah Kenny and Dr Theo Harris for an overview of the tool and how it could be applied to support your work.
The tool is available to the public online at https://mra-tool-nz.streamlit....