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Evaluating violations of drinking water regulations
Author(s) -
Rubin Scott J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2013.105.0024
Subject(s) - maximum contaminant level , groundwater , water source , safe drinking water act , environmental science , environmental health , water treatment , computer security , computer science , environmental engineering , water resource management , water quality , engineering , medicine , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology
US Environmental Protection Agency data were analyzed for violations by community water systems (CWSs). Several characteristics were evaluated, including size, source water, and violation type. The data show that: (1) 55% of CWSs violated at least one regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act that involved systems serving more than 95 million people; (2) the presence of violations was no different for groundwater and surface water systems; (3) fewer than 20% of CWSs with violations exceeded an allowable level of a contaminant in drinking water; (4) smaller water systems are no more likely than larger systems, except very large systems, to violate health‐related requirements; and (5) smaller CWSs appear more likely than larger systems to violate monitoring, reporting, and notification requirements. An evaluation was also conducted of four contaminants that had health‐related violations by more than 1% of CWSs: total coliform, stage 1 disinfection by‐products, arsenic, and lead and copper.