Emergency Deployment of Water Treatment Systems During Disasters
About the Webinar
Originally presented on March 11, 2026
Following an emergency event, communities need access to clean water for various daily activities and medical purposes. EPA partnered with WaterStep to develop a modular, mobile water treatment system known as Water on Wheels - Emergency Mobile Water Treatment System (WOW Cart). The WOW Cart is an inexpensive and versatile water treatment system about the size of a shopping cart that has been deployed in response to hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters.
Multiple deployments and discussions with stakeholders have highlighted the lack of a pre-approval process for short-term emergency drinking water systems among many states. This may limit the ability to use such capabilities and get clean water to affected areas quickly.
This webinar will provide an overview of the WOW Cart and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators will discuss their survey of state programs on pre-approval of short-term emergency drinking water systems. It will discuss Kentucky's Lily Pad program, including guidelines for acceptance and monitoring of systems, pre-deployments, and training water utility staff in the operation of these systems.
About the Presenters
James Goodrich is a Senior Science Advisor with EPA's Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions located in Cincinnati, OH. He has a Ph.D. and a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.S. from Florida State University. He is currently responsible for development, evaluation, and deployment of innovative emergency water treatment technology systems following natural and man-made disasters, adaptations of river spill models, stormwater infrastructure contamination mitigation tools, and full-scale evaluations of drinking water infrastructure decontamination approaches. During his career, he has managed large multidisciplinary research programs relative to water infrastructure protection, small community drinking water and wastewater needs, watershed protection and restoration, source water spill modeling, and international drinking water treatment technology demonstrations.
Kevin Letterly is the Government Affairs Manager at the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), where he has worked for seven years leading congressional engagement and drinking water policy efforts related to regulatory implementation, infrastructure funding, and drinking water security. He also leads ASDWA's Drinking Water Security and Emergency Response Committee.