United States 816-F-99-010 Environmental Protection September 1999 Agency Water Information This brochure is for every citizen who wants to know more about the quality of his or her local drinking water; and for every drinking water program manager making decisions at the local, state, and federal level. It tells you about major sources of drinking water information, where you can find them, and how you can use them. This guide will help you find: ° Maps of watersheds, information about the current condition of watersheds and actions underway to protect drinking water sources • Lists of public water systems and their compliance with federal drinking water safety standards • Contaminant occurrence in sources of drinking water 9 Data to be used in developing new rules to minimize health threats 9 Pointers to where you can go for more details ------- Envlrofacts Extract From Safe Drinking Water fr System (SDWIS) What's In It? • list of all public water systems and a . description of them • any violations, by system, of drinking water regulations since 1993., • any enforcement actions taken as a result of those violations • . • links to Consumer Confidence Reports on line, where they exist Drinking water regulations include: 8 health based standards for the maximum allowable amounts of regulated contaminants • required treatment techniques • monitoring and reporting rules Where Is It? http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/sdwis/ sdwis_query.html How Can You Use It? For excerpts of the data by water system, go to the local drinking water site at http:// www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm and click on your state. From there, you can locate your water system by entering any combination of its name, your county, or its size. To access the complete SDWIS/FED database on EPA's mainframe computer, people can request a password; detailed, technical training is required to access the actual data. National Contaminant Occurrence Database (f\fCOD) What's In It? The first set of drinking water contaminant occurrence data for use in making decisions, including: • data from many sources including U.S.-EPA, states, and the • U.S. Geological Survey • data on contaminant occurrence and concentration • regulated contaminants • contaminants currently not regulated Where Is It? http://www. epa.gov/ncod How Can You Use It? • federal rulemakers and stakeholders will ' use this data in deciding whether to regulate contaminants in the future, and in re- examining existing drinking water standards • states, water suppliers, and communities can use this data to make decisions about protection and treatment in their local areas • water systems, health care providers and the public can use this information to help sensitive subpopulations make informed health decisions ------- Information Collection Rule Database (BOB) The Information Collection Rule (ICR) data were collected as part of a national research project to support development of national drinking water standards which protect public health. They should NOT be used to make personal judgements about individual health risk, nor should they be used to determine local water system compliance with drinking water, standards. What's In It? The IGR required EPA to collect research data on: • disease-causing microbes (pathogens) in drinking water sources (rivers, lakes, reservoirs, etc.), indicators of fecal contamination (TotalColiform, Fecal Conform, E. Coli) • the amount of disinfectant (such as chlorine) and presence of disinfection byproducts in treated drinking water, and • the effectiveness of certain treatment technologies. Where Is It? Data on regulated contaminants and microbial indicators collected under the ICR are available on: www.epa.gov/enviro/html/icr The data includes concentrations of Total Trihalomethanes, 5 Haloacetic Acids, Bromate, Chlorite, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses, Total Coliforms, Fecal Coliforms, and E. Coli. ------- Local Drinking Water Information Surf Your Watershed And Index Of Watershed indicators What's Here? Easily available, collected information about drinking water in your state: 0 state drinking water home pages • state source water home pages • Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund Intended Use Plans • local watershed mapping and water quality information • water system home pages • local drinking water quality reports (Consumer Confidence Reports) • water system violations data, by system and nationally • information on how to protect drinking water sources Where Is It? http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwihfo.htm How Can You Use It? Click on a state within the U.S. map, and you will go to a page which lists the major links to information for that state. Several links .offer furdier information at the city, county, or watershed level. What's Here? Key information EPA has about drinking water sources, presented at the watershed level. A watershed is the area of land that catches rain •••;'.••• and snow and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or ground water. The U.S. . Geological Survey has mapped the U.S. into 2,149 basic watershed units. Info includes: . . • watershed maps • local and national information about watershed impairment • information about land use, population, Superfund sites, effluent discharges, and more • links to other web sites of interest • on-line forum to chat with others Where Is It? http://www.epa.gov/surf How Can You Use It? Click on maps to: • locate, use, and share information on your watershed or community 6 find out about local protection and volunteer opportunities •• request a map of your watershed ------- |