Frank Pisciotta, CSC, is a security consultant who focuses on critical infrastructure.

Step back to high school science class and you might remember the statistic that roughly two-thirds of a human body is made up of water. That fact in itself is a central reason that the security of America's drinking water is not to be taken for granted. Water systems, like any other company or essential infrastructure, must take into account a myriad of potential threats. Today's threats do not simply stem from terrorism, though that has been a chief concern in these years after September 11th. A quick scan of headlines and new stories, like the reports below, illustrates the concern that water utilities must place on the security of their systems:

"A former water department employee has been charged with poisoning a pair of city wells and alarming thousands of home owners. The perpetrator was accused of spiking two wells with PCE and TCE in June 2001. During a 6 day crisis, thousands of homeowners with private wells were told not drink or bathe in their water while the Ohio EPA tested hundreds of wells and searched the water table and streams for the source of contamination." Source: Michigan Section of the American Water Works Association, www.mi-water.org

"Vandals broke into a fenced compound containing a 3-million gallon drinking water reservoir about 7 weeks ago, causing the system to be taken offline until officials could confirm that no damage was done and the water was not contaminated. The vandals left behind a pair of rubber gloves, an empty plastic bag, and a pair of shorts, and also changed the padlock on the gate." Source: North County Times, California, 10/11/02

"Italian police arrested 4 Morrocans in possession of large quantities of cyanide and maps of Rome highlighting the locations of the U.S. Embassy. Police are investigating whether the men were plotting an attack on the embassy or on Rome's water supply. The men arrested had 10 pounds of cyanide, maps pinpointing the embassy and other locations, maps of Rome's water network, and a stack of counterfeit immigration papers." Source: ABCnews.com, 2/20/02"

"Residents [of Columbus, Miss.] were urged Tuesday [Jan. 21, 2003] to drink bottled water while authorities investigated a phone call that the water supply had been poisoned. The incident turned out to be a hoax." Source: The Clarion-Ledger, 1/22/03

"Bottled water was a prime commodity as Baldwin [Kansas] continued under a state boil advisory while the city's water system was returning to normal. The town of about 3,600 people has two 750,000 gallon water tanks that almost went dry earlier in the week because of a valve problem in the water line that brings treated water to Baldwin from Lawrence." Source: Lawrence Journal-World, January 2006

As these incidents indicate, there are significant challenges faced when it comes to safeguarding our nation's water supply. Those challenges include: