The Interuniversity Cooperation Centre Water & Health (ICC Water & Health, TU-Wien Hydrology & Microbiology) and RIVM jointly developed an interactive user-friendly computational tool, QMRAcatch, for source-targeted simulation of microbial concentrations in rivers and river/floodplain systems, including Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA).
Required treatment of river water for drinking water production to meet a set health based target can be computed. The model domain encompasses various faecal contamination sources (domestic wastewater, faecal dropping from animals, birds and humans). Faecal indicator, microbial source tracking and pathogen data can be combined to perform source-targeted calibration. Scenario analyses help informing water managers about required reduction targets for the development of sustainable water supply systems.
Although developed for Austria, QMRAcatch can be applied by drinking water companies, researchers and policy makers worldwide.
