ASME and AWWA Issue ANSI Standard for Managing Risk and Resilience at Water Utilities

NEW YORK, June 16, 2010 – ASME and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) have announced the first risk and resilience management standard designed specifically for water utilities.

The J100 standard, created in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and other recent disasters, will be released July 1, 2010. The Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection (RAMCAP) method is designed to help water and wastewater utilities identify potential threats to U.S. water infrastructure and prepare for or mitigate damage.

“This partnership leverages several years of development across multiple industry sectors, resulting in the only multi-sector, quantitative risk/resilience method available," said Reese Meisinger, president of the ASME Innovative Technologies Institute, LLC. "Tailoring this method into an American National Standard reflects the far-sighted leadership in infrastructure security and resilience shown by AWWA and the water sector.”

“The J100 standard provides the water sector with a critically needed methodology to support risk and resilience decision making, especially in an already resource constrained economy,” added AWWA Executive Director David LaFrance.

Approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in May 2010, the manual addresses hazards from terrorist attacks to natural disasters with a new RAMCAP methodology. This methodology differs from others by guiding utilities in calculating the probability of a malevolent attack using an innovative approach based on actual incidents, calculating the probability of a specific natural hazard occurring at a facility, and calculating asset and utility resilience capacity.

An expert committee representing water utilities, risk assessment practitioners and government agencies spent the last 18 months ensuring that the standard considered specific water sector needs.

AWWA and ASME-ITI have also partnered in developing a training program for the J100 standard. This training will provide utilities and practitioners with a functional understanding of the all-hazards RAMCAP method and how it applies to the water sector. The training will be launched in late July through AWWA’s E-Learning platform.

About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.

About AWWA

AWWA is the authoritative resource for knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of water in North America and beyond. AWWA is the largest organization of water professionals in the world. AWWA advances public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of the entire water community. Through our collective strength we become better stewards of water for the greatest good of the people and the environment.