Strategies to Reduce Risk and Mitigate Impacts of Disaster: Increasing Water Quality Resilience from Microplastics in the Water Supply System

Microplastics contaminating the water supply system qualifies as a disaster. This has major far-reaching implications, posing significant threats to economic growth and human livelihoods, as well as environmental and human health and well-being. Thus, we need to reduce the risk and mitigate against the effects of microplastics to build resilience and ensure continuity and efficiency of water supply system functions. To date, microplastics in the water supply cycle have not been considered in the context of disaster management. Hence, we provide an understanding of the disaster risk that microplastics pose using a conceptual mathematical framework. Additionally, we enhance understanding of the resilience of the social and physical infrastructure by highlighting hazards that people and infrastructure in the community face. Insights of the social, economic, and other human factors that make them vulnerable highlights capacities required to reduce risk and mitigate impacts. By evaluating the social and physical infrastructure resilience to microplastics in the water supply system and recommending multidisciplinary strategies to build resilience over time, we aim to catalyze action to address the problem. This will also contribute toward achieving targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and UN Sustainable Development Goals.