Emerging Contaminant Research Prioritisation Decision Making Framework

Background
The Global Water Research Coalition (GWRC) held a workshop on “Emerging Contaminants and Pathogens” in Karlsruhe, Germany in June 2015. An objective of that workshop was to identify and highlight research needs regarding emerging water quality contaminants. While numerous specific issues were identified, it was broadly acknowledged that the ability for water utilities to do so is hindered by the lack of the clear framework for prioritisation. Such a framework would assist utilities in identifying appropriate criteria for prioritisation, techniques for ‘weighting’ of balancing those criteria, techniques for assessing options against the criteria and techniques for drawing conclusions on research prioritisation. The availability of such a framework was considered to have a number of potential advantages. These included:

An improved basis for research priority decision making.
Improved decision making justification to stakeholders (including the community).
Informed policy making.

Objectives
The objective of this project is to develop a transparent and efficient decision making framework to be used in making and communicating decisions around the prioritisation of research efforts on emerging water contaminants.

This survey
This survey has been developed as an initial means of gathering information regarding current practice and further industry needs. Following the survey, a summary report will be prepared as a ‘discussion paper’ (May 2017). This discussion paper will be circulated among GWRC members for feedback. A final report will present a finalised decision-making framework (October 2017).

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* 1. Please provide contact details for any follow-up to this survey (all details will remain confidential)

Name

Company

City/Town

State/Province

Country

Email Address

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* 2. How many customers does your organisation serve?

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* 3. How significant are the following activities among the services provided by your organisation?

	This is a major activity of my organisation	This is a minor activity of my organisation	This service not provided by my organisation
Drinking water catchment management	Drinking water catchment management This is a major activity of my organisation	Drinking water catchment management This is a minor activity of my organisation	Drinking water catchment management This service not provided by my organisation
Drinking water treatment	Drinking water treatment This is a major activity of my organisation	Drinking water treatment This is a minor activity of my organisation	Drinking water treatment This service not provided by my organisation
Drinking water distribution	Drinking water distribution This is a major activity of my organisation	Drinking water distribution This is a minor activity of my organisation	Drinking water distribution This service not provided by my organisation
Wastewater source control	Wastewater source control This is a major activity of my organisation	Wastewater source control This is a minor activity of my organisation	Wastewater source control This service not provided by my organisation
Wastewater treatment	Wastewater treatment This is a major activity of my organisation	Wastewater treatment This is a minor activity of my organisation	Wastewater treatment This service not provided by my organisation
Wastewater discharge	Wastewater discharge This is a major activity of my organisation	Wastewater discharge This is a minor activity of my organisation	Wastewater discharge This service not provided by my organisation
Urban stormwater source control/catchment management	Urban stormwater source control/catchment management This is a major activity of my organisation	Urban stormwater source control/catchment management This is a minor activity of my organisation	Urban stormwater source control/catchment management This service not provided by my organisation
Urban stormwater treatment	Urban stormwater treatment This is a major activity of my organisation	Urban stormwater treatment This is a minor activity of my organisation	Urban stormwater treatment This service not provided by my organisation
Urban stormwater reuse	Urban stormwater reuse This is a major activity of my organisation	Urban stormwater reuse This is a minor activity of my organisation	Urban stormwater reuse This service not provided by my organisation
Reclaimed water non-potable reuse	Reclaimed water non-potable reuse This is a major activity of my organisation	Reclaimed water non-potable reuse This is a minor activity of my organisation	Reclaimed water non-potable reuse This service not provided by my organisation
Reclaimed water potable reuse	Reclaimed water potable reuse This is a major activity of my organisation	Reclaimed water potable reuse This is a minor activity of my organisation	Reclaimed water potable reuse This service not provided by my organisation
Water quality research	Water quality research This is a major activity of my organisation	Water quality research This is a minor activity of my organisation	Water quality research This service not provided by my organisation
Water quality regulation	Water quality regulation This is a major activity of my organisation	Water quality regulation This is a minor activity of my organisation	Water quality regulation This service not provided by my organisation
Water quality analysis	Water quality analysis This is a major activity of my organisation	Water quality analysis This is a minor activity of my organisation	Water quality analysis This service not provided by my organisation
Environmental impact assessment related to water contaminants	Environmental impact assessment related to water contaminants This is a major activity of my organisation	Environmental impact assessment related to water contaminants This is a minor activity of my organisation	Environmental impact assessment related to water contaminants This service not provided by my organisation
Health risk assessment related to water contaminants	Health risk assessment related to water contaminants This is a major activity of my organisation	Health risk assessment related to water contaminants This is a minor activity of my organisation	Health risk assessment related to water contaminants This service not provided by my organisation

Comments or clarification

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* 4. Select which statement best describes your current practice regarding prioritisation frameworks for emerging contaminants research.

My organisation has a formal internal framework for prioritising research needs (note: a "formal" framework would be outlined in an existing document).

My organisation has an informal internal framework for prioritising research needs (note: an "informal" framework may not be described in any document, but is nonetheless accepted practice).

My organisation uses an externally developed framework for prioritising research needs.

I am not aware of any formal or informal framework used by my organisation for emerging contaminant research prioritisation.

Other

Please elaborate on your answer above. Titles of any formal or informal documents would be helpful and appreciated.

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* 5. Assuming you are responsible for prioritising research on emerging water contaminants, how would you rate the importance of each of the following criteria?

Comments or clarification

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* 6. Please indicate any other criteria, which may be important and were not effectively described in the previous question

Additional criteria: Whether...

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* 7. Does your organisation apply a process for screening chemicals of concern based on expected environmental fate? If so, please describe the basic concepts and/or intrinsic parameters (Kow, water solubility, molecular charge, etc….) that are used.

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* 8. In addition to the answer provided in Question 4, are you aware of any existing frameworks for emerging contaminant research prioritisation? If so, please provide details.

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* 9. Are you aware of any other current or previous research on the prioritisation of emerging contaminant needs?

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* 10. Can you propose a suitable methodology (in general terms) that could be adopted for the prioritisation of emerging contaminant research needs?

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* 11. How important or useful do you consider it will be to develop a broadly available framework for prioritisation of emerging contaminant research needs?

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* 12. How interested do you think you (or other members of your organisation) will be to use a prioritisation framework that might be developed from this research project?

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* 13. Describe any particular features of a research prioritisation framework that would be important to you or your organisation

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* 14. A discussion paper will be produced on the development of an emerging contaminant research prioritisation decision making framework. Please enter any email addresses that you would like to be included on communications regarding the availability of that discussion paper when it becomes available in May 2017.

Email address 1

Email address 2

Email address 3

Email address 4

Email address 5

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* 15. Please provide any further information that you consider to be important or useful.

Thank you very much for the time that you have taken to complete this survey!

	Very important	Moderately important	Relatively unimportant	Not important at all
Whether there is evidence for widespread public concern	Whether there is evidence for widespread public concern Very important	Whether there is evidence for widespread public concern Moderately important	Whether there is evidence for widespread public concern Relatively unimportant	Whether there is evidence for widespread public concern Not important at all
Whether there is evidence for emerging public concern	Whether there is evidence for emerging public concern Very important	Whether there is evidence for emerging public concern Moderately important	Whether there is evidence for emerging public concern Relatively unimportant	Whether there is evidence for emerging public concern Not important at all
Whether there is evidence of interest from regulatory organisations	Whether there is evidence of interest from regulatory organisations Very important	Whether there is evidence of interest from regulatory organisations Moderately important	Whether there is evidence of interest from regulatory organisations Relatively unimportant	Whether there is evidence of interest from regulatory organisations Not important at all
Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) human carcinogen	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) human carcinogen Very important	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) human carcinogen Moderately important	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) human carcinogen Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) human carcinogen Not important at all
Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) endrocrine disruptor	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) endrocrine disruptor Very important	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) endrocrine disruptor Moderately important	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) endrocrine disruptor Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant is a (known or suspected) endrocrine disruptor Not important at all
Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause acute health risks	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause acute health risks Very important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause acute health risks Moderately important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause acute health risks Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause acute health risks Not important at all
Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause chronic health risks	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause chronic health risks Very important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause chronic health risks Moderately important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause chronic health risks Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to cause chronic health risks Not important at all
Whether there is a lack of available information regarding health risks	Whether there is a lack of available information regarding health risks Very important	Whether there is a lack of available information regarding health risks Moderately important	Whether there is a lack of available information regarding health risks Relatively unimportant	Whether there is a lack of available information regarding health risks Not important at all
Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during drinking water treatment	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during drinking water treatment Very important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during drinking water treatment Moderately important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during drinking water treatment Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during drinking water treatment Not important at all
Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during wastewater treatment	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during wastewater treatment Very important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during wastewater treatment Moderately important	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during wastewater treatment Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant is (known or suspected) to be produced during wastewater treatment Not important at all
Whether the contaminant appears to be difficult to manage by existing/conventional treatment processes	Whether the contaminant appears to be difficult to manage by existing/conventional treatment processes Very important	Whether the contaminant appears to be difficult to manage by existing/conventional treatment processes Moderately important	Whether the contaminant appears to be difficult to manage by existing/conventional treatment processes Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant appears to be difficult to manage by existing/conventional treatment processes Not important at all
Whether there is a lack of information regarding removal by existing/conventional treatment processes	Whether there is a lack of information regarding removal by existing/conventional treatment processes Very important	Whether there is a lack of information regarding removal by existing/conventional treatment processes Moderately important	Whether there is a lack of information regarding removal by existing/conventional treatment processes Relatively unimportant	Whether there is a lack of information regarding removal by existing/conventional treatment processes Not important at all
Whether customers have indicated that the contaminant should be prioritised	Whether customers have indicated that the contaminant should be prioritised Very important	Whether customers have indicated that the contaminant should be prioritised Moderately important	Whether customers have indicated that the contaminant should be prioritised Relatively unimportant	Whether customers have indicated that the contaminant should be prioritised Not important at all
Whether other organisations are prioritising research for this contaminant	Whether other organisations are prioritising research for this contaminant Very important	Whether other organisations are prioritising research for this contaminant Moderately important	Whether other organisations are prioritising research for this contaminant Relatively unimportant	Whether other organisations are prioritising research for this contaminant Not important at all
Whether other organisations have indicated a need for research on this contaminant	Whether other organisations have indicated a need for research on this contaminant Very important	Whether other organisations have indicated a need for research on this contaminant Moderately important	Whether other organisations have indicated a need for research on this contaminant Relatively unimportant	Whether other organisations have indicated a need for research on this contaminant Not important at all
Whether this contaminant is believed to present (somewhat) unique challenges to my organisation	Whether this contaminant is believed to present (somewhat) unique challenges to my organisation Very important	Whether this contaminant is believed to present (somewhat) unique challenges to my organisation Moderately important	Whether this contaminant is believed to present (somewhat) unique challenges to my organisation Relatively unimportant	Whether this contaminant is believed to present (somewhat) unique challenges to my organisation Not important at all
Whether the contaminant has been confirmed to be present (occasionally or consistently) in water my organisation supplies or discharges.	Whether the contaminant has been confirmed to be present (occasionally or consistently) in water my organisation supplies or discharges. Very important	Whether the contaminant has been confirmed to be present (occasionally or consistently) in water my organisation supplies or discharges. Moderately important	Whether the contaminant has been confirmed to be present (occasionally or consistently) in water my organisation supplies or discharges. Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant has been confirmed to be present (occasionally or consistently) in water my organisation supplies or discharges. Not important at all
Whether existing analytical techniques are available with suitable limits of detection	Whether existing analytical techniques are available with suitable limits of detection Very important	Whether existing analytical techniques are available with suitable limits of detection Moderately important	Whether existing analytical techniques are available with suitable limits of detection Relatively unimportant	Whether existing analytical techniques are available with suitable limits of detection Not important at all
Whether the contaminant has been regulated by a relevant regulatory agency to my organisation	Whether the contaminant has been regulated by a relevant regulatory agency to my organisation Very important	Whether the contaminant has been regulated by a relevant regulatory agency to my organisation Moderately important	Whether the contaminant has been regulated by a relevant regulatory agency to my organisation Relatively unimportant	Whether the contaminant has been regulated by a relevant regulatory agency to my organisation Not important at all
Whether there is a perception or belief that the contaminant may be regulated (or regulations tightened) in the future	Whether there is a perception or belief that the contaminant may be regulated (or regulations tightened) in the future Very important	Whether there is a perception or belief that the contaminant may be regulated (or regulations tightened) in the future Moderately important	Whether there is a perception or belief that the contaminant may be regulated (or regulations tightened) in the future Relatively unimportant	Whether there is a perception or belief that the contaminant may be regulated (or regulations tightened) in the future Not important at all