Drinking Water Quality in The United States - Enforcement of Standards

Enforcement of Standards

The EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) contains the federal regulations for public water systems. There are no federal regulations for private drinking water. The EPA enters into primary enforcement authority (primacy) agreements with state governments, so in most states the EPA does not directly enforce the SDWA. State rules can be different than EPA's, but they must be at least as stringent.

The EPA defines a public water system (PWS) as an entity that provides water for human consumption to at least 25 people (or at least 15 connections) for at least 60 days a year. There are three types of public water system: community systems (like cities or trailer parks); non-transient, non-community systems (like factories or schools with their own water source); and transient non-community systems (like rural restaurants or camps).

Enforcement of drinking water standards in small water systems is less consistent than enforcement in large systems. According to a New York Times analysis published in December 2009, more than 20 percent of public water systems in the U.S. providing water to 49 million people violated provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the previous five years. Violations involved arsenic, radioactive substances like uranium, tetrachloroethylene, and coliform bacteria. Fewer than 6 percent of the public water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials. According to David Uhlmann, a former Justice Department official, "there is significant reluctance within the EPA and Justice Department to bring actions against municipalities, because there’s a view that they are often cash-strapped, and fines would ultimately be paid by local taxpayers". A longtime EPA enforcement official who was quoted in the report said "The top people want big headlines and million-dollar settlements. That’s not drinking-water cases." State regulators rather provide technical assistance to help systems that violate the rules. But many systems remained out of compliance, even after aid was offered. For over a quarter of systems that violated the arsenic or radioactivity standards, there is even no record that they were ever contacted by a regulator.