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MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE U.S. SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Citation:
Clark*, R M., E W. Rice*, J W. Santo Domingo*, AND S C. Gutierrez*. MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE U.S. SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY. Presented at International Seminar on Drinking Water, Seoul, Korea, 11/12/2001.
Description:
The passage of the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1974 has had a major impact on the way water is treated and delivered in the United States. The Act established national drinking water regulations for more than 170,000 public drinking water systems serving over 250 million people in the United States. Under the SDWA, public water systems are defined as consisting of both community and non-community water systems. There are approximately 60,000 community water systems which provide drinking water to the same people year-round. Non-community systems serve customers on less than a year round basis. Since 1980, on a percentage basis, there are fewer very small water systems (serving less than 25-500 people) and slightly more small, medium, and large water systems. Approximately 20% of the community systems in the United States use surface water and 82% use ground water. The number of drinking water regulations promulgated under the SDWA has increased from slightly over 20 in 1974 to nearly 90 by 2000. Passage of the SDWA has resulted in a number of changes in drinking water technology. A growing trend in the United States is to view drinking water in the context of watershed management.