INTRODUCTION
We all want safe, clean water in our homes, at our jobs, and in public places.
However, recent scientific findings have shown that there are more threats to the
safety of our water supply than we once believed. Congress became concerned
that we need to do a better job of protecting the quality of our water supply and
passed several important environmental laws, including the Safe Drinking Wa-
ter Act of 1974.
Your water supply will likely be safer as a result, but the costs of additional
monitoring and consumer protections may result in higher utility rates.
The purpose of this brochure is to provide you with information about the
health and safety requirements placed on drinking water and the resulting costs
that are passed on to consumers through monthly service rates.
WHAT ABOUT OUR WATER?
Water makes up almost two-thirds of our bod-
ies, and is present in almost every type of food and
drink. We cannot live without water. Ninety-seven
percent of the earth's water is saltwater in oceans
and seas. Only one percent is available for drinking
water supplies.
Most water is not drinkable without treatment, d y
Public water system owners are responsible for the quality and availability of
drinking water from its source to the consumer. This may involve pumping
water out of the ground or diverting a stream, removing contaminants, and pump-
ing the water through miles of pipes. Though it's expensive, water treatment is
necessary to provide a safe, reliable supply of drinking water at a reasonable
cost.
There are more than 60,000 public water systems in the United States. They
process 34 billion gallons of water per day for home and commercial use.
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POTENTIAL THREATS
To OUR PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY
Delivering clean water for public consumption is no easy task. Both the
forces of nature and the activities of modern, industrialized society threaten the
cleanliness and safety of our lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater wells.
THREATS
FROM NATURE
Bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microorganisms;
Naturally occurring radioactive materials such as radium and
radon;
Naturally occurring metals, such as arsenic, cadmium and
chromium; and;
Nitrates and nitrites from the breakdown of organic materials.
THREATS FROM SOCIETY
Chemicals both legally and illegally discharged from indus-
trial and other processes;
Runoff from city streets, parking lots, and rooftops;
Leakage of chemicals and wastes from underground storage
tanks;
Runoff of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers;
Runoff from landfills and waste dumps;
Injection of waste fluids into underground wells;
Improper use and disposal of household wastes, such as used
oil, cleaning products, and lawn and garden chemicals.
THREATS FROM TREATMENT AND DISTRIBUTION
If sufficient care is not used, water can also be contaminated by the prod-
ucts and processes used to treat water and distribute it to users.
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How is OUR WATER PROTECTED?
New Regulations
Concerned by news accounts about toxic waste sites, organic chemicals in
municipal water supplies and outbreaks of infectious diseases, Congress has
demanded more tighter regulation of water.
Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974 with the goal of
providing safe drinking water to all persons served by public water supplies
(water systems serving 25 or more persons on a regular basis or a system with 15
or more service connections.) The purpose of the act is to make sure our drink-
ing water is safe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accomplishes this
goal by setting national drinking water standards. Individual states carry out
and enforce those regulations for public water systems.
Congress expanded and strengthened the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1986.
The 1986 amendments require EPA to regulate more contaminants, define maxi-
mum contaminant levels, set compliance deadlines, regulate surface water treat-
ment, remove lead, require disinfection and protection for wells, and strengthen
enforcement.
The Safe Drinking Water Act gives the EPA the authority to develop spe-
cific regulations to assure the safety of public drinking water. Currently, public
water systems must test for more than 80 contaminants. Results of those tests
are studied by water professionals within the water utility, and they are also sent
to state Drinking Water Program offices. Both utility and state personnel com-
pare the results with the drinking water standards. If the amount of a certain
substance in the water exceeds the standard, both the utility and state adminis-
trator spring into action to solve the problem.
Some water providers perform more than 18,000 tests each year on their
"raw" and "finished" water to assure its safety. All tests are a matter of public
record and are accessible to consumers.
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The Safe Drinking Water Act not only requires water quality standards, it
also presents rules for notifying the public about water problems. These rules
differ from substance to substance, as do the levels considered harmful for each
contaminant.
IMPROVED CONTAMINANT
DETECTION
Many of these standards established to
protect drinking water will control chemi-
cal contaminants to very low levels. As the
ability to monitor has grown more sophis-
ticated, research has suggested that more
subtle types of health effects, such as cer-
tain forms of cancer, may result from long
term exposure to very low levels of chemi-
cal contamination.
Similarly, the understanding of micro-
biological contamination of drinking wa-
ter has also grown. In the early 1900s,
drinking water treatment was revolutionized
through the widespread introduction of chlorine for disinfection purposes. This
resulted in dramatic reductions in the incidence of waterborne diseases such as
typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis. With the removal of these very
visible health threats, there is a perception that the problem of assuring safety in
drinking water has been solved.
A number of waterborne diseases may remain, characterized by symptoms
such as diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal distress. Improving water filtration and
disinfection and upgrading water treatment facilities will make substantial
progress toward eliminating these more subtle disease agents.
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IMPROVED TREATMENT
New regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments will re-
quire utilities using surface waters to install filtration and disinfection treatment
to remove viruses, cysts, bacteria, and other microorganisms. Although many
surface supplies have been considered safe in the past, increasing population
and the resultant pollution of watershed lands has rendered many of these sys-
tems unable to produce safe reliable water on a continual basis. Groundwater
systems will also be required to provide disinfection.
Upgrading water treatment to remove chemical contaminants to low levels
and to assure that disease-causing microorganisms remain inactive may increase
the cost of water.
BUT How MUCH WILL "SAFE"
WATER COST?
Safe water and the regulation to ensure it
is going to cost money ... money that consum-
ers will pay in higher water rates. Every new
contaminant that is regulated means more work
and more expense for public water systems.
Small systems will be hardest hit because
they have fewer customers to share the costs.
For example, additional water testing costs of $5,000 per year would mean $200
per family served by a system with only 25 customers connected. However, for
a larger system of 2,000 connections, the same $5,000 expense would amount to
only $2.50 per family.
In some cases, customers may find that rates will be increased substantially
to cover the costs of assuring a safe water supply.
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WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS
ASSOCIATED WITH PAYING FOR
"SAFE" WATER?
The benefits of new water treatment techniques will result in a decreased
number of diseases related to our drinking water. Benefits may not, however, be
immediately apparent to many consumers since many of these benefits will be
spread over several generations. The health benefits are nonetheless real.
WHAT WILL THIS MEAN To ME?
Water can no longer be used frivolously, but must be conserved. It means
that water rates may go up to cover the costs of assuring safe drinking water.
Drinking water is a precious resource, but most people take it for granted.
Many of us assume that water will always come out of our kitchen taps and that
it will always be safe. Water in the ground may be free, but getting water from
the source to people's homes and making sure that it is safe when it gets there
costs money.
The new regulations being developed under the Safe Drinking Water Act
Amendments are intended to protect the public health of all Americans. These
regulations also have been designed to give the consumer "peace of mind" re-
garding the water consumed from the tap.
Since safe, potable water is a precious natural resource in scarce supply, we
must conserve water to the extent possible. Enhancing water quality has costs
that consumers share. Conserving our water supply can help to hold costs in
check, as well as assuring a supply for future generations.
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How ARE INVESTOR-OWNED
UTILITIES COMPLYING WITH THE
SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT?
More than 30 million people in the United States are served by private in-
vestor-owned systems, which are regulated by state public utility commissions.
In addition, some public utility commissions have rate-setting jurisdiction over
municipal or other governmentally-owned systems.
As regulators of investor-owned water and wastewater facilities, public utility
commissions are charged by law with setting rates that allow utilities an oppor-
tunity to earn an adequate return on their investment while ensuring that con-
sumers' rates are kept at a reasonable level and requiring safe and reliable ser-
vice.
But public utility commissions are economic regulators only. Environmen-
tal regulation of water and wastewater utilities in areas such as water withdrawal
permits, sewage disposal, and health and safety standards, are enforced strictly
by the state environmental departments, health and human services departments,
water management districts, and local county health agencies.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the state
public utility commissions it represents strongly and consistently have supported
the purposes of the Safe Drinking Water Act to improve the quality and safety of
the nation's drinking water supplies.
But as regulators who are responsible for determining utility rates to pay for
necessary remediation efforts, state public utility commissions are also aware of
the economic impact of utilities' compliance costs resulting from regulatory
mandates and that such costs can directly impact human health. For example,
utilities may need to charge higher rates to fund mandatory improvements to
their current systems, so they will be in compliance with current regulations.
But a utility's increased rates may not be covered by their customers' normal
discretionary income. Instead, higher utility rates may force low income persons
or those on fixed incomes, who are trying to meet their monthly obligations, to
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cut back on other essential services that directly affect their health and welfare
such as medical care, nutrition or education.
Out of concern for consumers, the National Association of Regulatory Util-
ity Commissioners and the state public utility commissions have maintained
that universal water service, defined as high quality drinking water at affordable
rates for every consumer, should be a national policy goal.
The Safe Drinking Water Act does allow regulatory agencies to issue "Vari-
ances and Exemptions" from some of the requirements for water utility systems
that are having major technical or financial problems in meeting the Safe Drink-
ing Water Act requirements. These are legal means by which a system that does
not meet the requirements can supply water to the public for a limited time. The
public water supplier must prove to the regulatory authorities that there is no
undue risk to health by allowing the Variance of Exemption.
While it is not possible to determine the exact dollar increases in residential
utility rates that may be considered "affordable," the National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the state public utility commissions have
asked the Environmental Protection Agency to affirm a commitment to afford-
able water rates. The Environmental Protection Agency has done so.
The Environmental Protection Agency believes government has a responsi-
bility to see that expenses required of utilities are those expenses which are
reasonably necessary to protect and improve consumers' health. The Environ-
mental Protection Agency also believes regulations should be designed to achieve
the benefits of safe drinking water in an efficient and least-costly manner.
CONCLUSION
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the
Environmental Protection Agency encourage consumers to learn more about
safe drinking water, health and safety requirements, and the resulting costs. We
encourage you to write your individual state's drinking water office in your state's
public utility commission for more information!
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