Drinking Water Standards for Regulated Contaminants
Through the Safe Drinking
Water Act (SDWA), Congress requires EPA to regulate contaminants which may be
health risks and which may be present in public drinking water supplies. Passed in 1974, and
revised in 1986 and 1996, SDWA extends public health protection to America's drinking water
consumers.
Under SDWA, EPA sets legal limits on the levels of certain contaminants in drinking water.
The legal limits reflect both the level that protects human health and the level that water systems
can achieve using the best available technology. Besides prescribing these legal limits, EPA
rules set water-testing schedules and methods that water systems must follow. The rules also list
acceptable techniques for treating contaminated water. SDWA gives individual states the
opportunity to set and enforce their own drinking water standards if the standards are at least as
strong as EPA's national standards. Most states and territories directly oversee the water
systems within their borders.
Between 1974 and 1986, EPA regulated approximately 20 contaminants. Congress's 1986
SDWA revisions named 83 contaminants and required EPA to regulate all of them by 1989. The
following six rules are EPA's response to that Congressional mandate.
|
