The Safe Drinking Water Act

by JoAnn Wagner
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services

No matter where you go, or what public system you take a drink from, the water you are drinking must meet federal standards.

In 1974 the U.S. Congress passed the landmark Safe Drinking Water Act (or SDWA). The act, amended in 1986 and 1996, provides standards that public water supplies must meet, as well as other requirements.

For all of us, that means no matter what public water system in the country we take a drink from, we can be assured that water is being routinely tested for Maximum Contaminant Levels (or MCLs) for more than 80 substances. These tested substances include coliform bacteria, nitrates, metals and organic and inorganic compounds. MCLs were established to indicate the maximum amount of a substance that may be present in water considered safe to drink. Any violation of these standards must be publicly reported.

In addition, each state is required to publish annual reports of violations and each public water system must publish a "Consumer Confidence Report," beginning in 1999, to inform the public about the quality of the water they drink.

The SDWA also stopped the use of lead pipes, solder and flux because they have been proven to be a potential health hazard. Amendments made to the act in 1996 require that public water system operators be certified, though Nebraska and many other states required this long before the SDWA mandated certification.

The 1996 amendments also require that states define technical, financial and managerial capacity and that new systems have these capabilities before they are allowed to operate. This is to ensure that new systems can keep up with changing regulations and requirements.

Other features of SDWA include:

• States must issue administrative penalty orders for violations of the act.
• Each state will have a state drinking water loan fund to provide low interest loans (and some loan forgiveness) to water systems needing to make improvements.
• Established Source Water Assessment Programs (or SWAPs) that help systems assess the potential for contamination of their source of water.
• Allows states to issue variances or exemptions to systems that can't meet certain requirements (as long as the public isn't exposed to undue health risks in the process).
• Requires the regulation of disinfectants and disinfection by-products. Some disinfectants can react with substances in the water that produce potentially cancer-causing by-products.