TABLE OF CONTENTS Frederick W.Pontius, P.E.
American Water Works Association
Denver, Colorado
Stephen W.Clark
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C.
The principal law governing drinking water safety in the United States is the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Enacted initially in 1974 (SDWA, 1974), the SDWA authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to establish comprehensive national drinking water regulations to ensure drinking water safety. The history and status of U.S. drinking water regulations and the SDWA are presented in this chapter. International standards for drinking water are also discussed briefly.
Drinking water regulations are issued by a regulatory agency under the authority of federal, state, or local law. Drinking water regulations established by USEPA typically require water utilities to meet specified water quality standards. Regulations also require that certain monitoring be conducted, that specified treatment be applied, and that the supplier submit reports to document that the regulations are being met.
To ensure that water quality regulations are not violated, a water supplier usually must produce water of a higher quality than the standard or regulation would demand. Hence, each water supplier must establish and meet its own water quality goals to ensure that applicable water quality regulations are met and that the highest-quality water possible is being delivered to the consumer within the financial resources available to the water supplier.
By the eighteenth century, removal of particles from water by filtration was established as an effective means of clarifying water. The general practice of...
