Safety by Design

Making Safety a Focus in the Design of Water Facilities Can Eliminate an Array of Issues

By Elizabeth A. Rodgers, Michael Etheridge & Chase Hartz

Imagine that an engineer offers to design your water facility or facility upgrade in such a way that it is safe to build, operate and maintain. You might ask, “Why wouldn’t it be safe in the first place?”

To explain, an analogy might help. A car comes with safety features built into it. Although safety and other features vary according to make and model, as well as individual budget and preferences, you can assume any car you buy will basically be safe. In a similar way, water and wastewater facilities are also built to code and to meet regulatory requirements. A standard level of safety is engineered into them.