Drinking Water—Safety on Tap - Sdwa Amendments And Regulations

The EPA is continuing its work to protect drinking water from unsafe contaminant levels, to oversee the activities of the states that enforce federal or their own stricter standards, and to solicit public input as it develops new standards or other program requirements. The SDWA has been amended to require the EPA to:

• Set a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG). An MCLG is the maximum amount of a contaminant that is not expected to cause any health problems over a lifetime of exposure. The EPA is mandated to set the MCL as close to the MCLG as technology and economics will permit.
• Specify the "best available technology" for treating each contaminant for which the EPA sets a MCL.
• Provide states with greater flexibility to implement the SDWA to meet their specific needs while arriving at the same level of public health protection.
• Set contaminant regulation priorities based on data about adverse public health effects of the contaminant, the occurrence of the contaminant in public water supplies, and the estimated reduction in health risk that can be expected from any new regulations.
• Provide a thorough analysis of the costs to water supplies and benefits to public health.
• Increase research to develop sound scientific data to provide a base for regulations.
• Ban the use of lead pipes and lead solder in new drinking water systems and in the repair of existing water systems.
• Establish a federal-state partnership for regulation enforcement.

Drinking Water Standards

These amendments have resulted in the following major programs within the SDWA, which serve to increase the standards for safe drinking water in the United States:

• Surface Water Treatment Rule
• Source Water Assessment
• Wellhead Protection Programs
• Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
• State Capacity Development Program
• Operator Certification Program
• Public Notice and Consumer Confidence Reports
• Health Care Provider Outreach and Education
• State Compliance Report

SURFACE WATER TREATMENT RULE.

The Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) is the EPA's response to Congress's mandate to require public water systems that draw water from surface sources (lakes, rivers, and reservoirs) to disinfect their water before distribution and filter, where appropriate. The SWTR is directed against microbial contamination. All surface water systems must disinfect and filter their water to provide a minimum 99.9% removal and inactivation of Giardia and 99.99% removal and inactivation of viruses. The vast majority of U.S. water suppliers filter their water. Filtration adequacy is determined by measurement of turbidity. Public water supplies that have pristine protected sources may be granted a waiver from the filtration requirement if they meet certain criteria.

SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT.

As land development in the United States continues and suburban sprawl encroaches on once pristine watersheds, the potential to contaminate drinking water sources grows. Beginning in 2001 the states had to incorporate the results of their wellhead assessments into reports. The results of these assessments must be made available to the public and summarized in the consumer confidence reports issued by the water suppliers. By the end of 2003 states were required to examine every river, lake, and groundwater supply used as a drinking water source to identify the watershed around the source water, inventory the significant potential sources of pollution in the watershed, and determine how susceptible these water sources are to contamination.

WELLHEAD PROTECTION PROGRAMS.

Under a voluntary program, each state develops and implements a comprehensive program to protect the land areas around water supply wells from contaminants that may enter the groundwater and adversely affect human health. There are several steps involved in implementing these well-head programs:

• Determining the land area that needs to be protected in order to protect the groundwater source
• Identifying the potential sources of contamination within the delineated area
• Developing and implementing a plan to adequately manage identified potential contaminant sources
• Establishing a plan to protect the groundwater source in case of an accidental spill of hazardous materials or some other emergency

The EPA approves state wellhead protection programs and provides technical support to state and local governments to implement the program. In its report Summary of State Biennial Reports of Wellhead Protection Program Progress (1999), the EPA reported that between 1990 and 1999 (the latest data available), forty-nine states and territories had approved wellhead protection programs.

DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND.

This federal grant program provides money to the states, which in turn provide loans to water systems to upgrade their facilities and ensure compliance with drinking water standards. States must come up with a 20% match. The revenue can be used to make loans, purchase or finance government debt, buy local bond insurance to help cover the costs of constructing or repairing water treatment facilities, acquire land to buffer drinking water sources from contamination, or fund other water protection activities. To qualify for grants, states must have a drinking water revolving fund in place. As loans are repaid, the state's funds are replenished, enabling them to make loans for other eligible drinking water projects.

STATE CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

As of October 2000, states were required to develop strategies to ensure that all water systems had the technical, financial, and managerial capability to provide safe drinking water to their customers. States were required to involve the public in strategy development and to make the final strategy available to the public.

OPERATOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.

Operation of water treatment systems by trained staff is an important component of providing safe drinking water. Under this requirement, operators must complete a minimum amount of classroom training and experience. Certifications must be renewed at specified intervals and operators must have some continuing education in the intervals between renewals.

States with existing water-system operator certification programs were required to revise their programs to meet new requirements and to submit their program changes to the EPA by February 2001. States with programs that met the new requirements had to submit their programs for the EPA review by August 2000. The EPA strongly recommended that states use advisory boards in implementing these guidelines.

PUBLIC NOTICE AND CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORTS.

Public water suppliers must notify their customers through the media or posted signs when the water system violates a health-based drinking water standard. The notice must tell the customer which water quality standard has been violated, what actions the customer can take, and how soon the violation will be corrected.

Since 1999, water suppliers have been required to issue an annual report and to provide access to the report for every customer served by the system. Generally, this is done through direct mailing with the water bill. The report provides information on the source of the water supply, the level of any regulated contaminants detected in the water supply, the health effects of contaminants detected above the safety limit, and the water system's compliance with other drinking water regulations.

HEALTH CARE PROVIDER OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.

The very young, the elderly, the very sick, and immunocompromised individuals are more susceptible to microbial infection than are healthy adults. Congress determined that it is important to educate health-care providers concerning health risks that may occur to this subpopulation from drinking water that would not adversely affect a normal, healthy person. The EPA and the CDC must jointly provide national health-care provider training and a public education campaign. The purpose of this effort is to increase the availability of information about waterborne disease and its symptoms to health-care providers and their patients.

STATE COMPLIANCE REPORT.

By January of each year, each state is required to produce an annual report on whether water systems within the state are meeting drinking water standards. These reports must be made available to the public. The EPA must summarize the information into an annual national report available to the public.

The information submitted annually by the states and the water suppliers is stored in the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). The EPA uses this information to track the safety of the nation's drinking water, to track water system violations of the SDWA, and to prepare the national annual report. The public can access information about a particular water system through the SDWIS.