Water Supply in EPA F. Donald Maddox, P.E. Acting Regional Representative Water Hygiene Program, Region V ------- With Reorganization Plan Number 3 of 1970 which became effective December 3, 1970? the Bureau of Water Hygiene with its responsibilities under DREW became a part of the Environmental-Protection Agency. Primary activities under DREW included: 1. Establish and up-date the Drinking Water Standards. 2. Carry out the provisions of the Interstate Quarantine Regulations regarding interstate carrier water supplies. 3. Provide a research and technical assistance program on health effects of man's use of water for drinking, recreation, food production and other purposes. k. Provide specialized technical services regarding public water supplies. 5. Fulfill responsibilities of the Secretary of DHEW on the public health aspects of water resource planning. 6. Provide consultation to FWPCA on the'health aspects of water pollution. Although our role in some of these activities has changed with •Sw^yvlM organizational developments within EPA, the water -hygiene program remains an identifiable entity with essentially the same personnel SuppAy responsible for the same activities. Placement of water hygiene/in EPA has improved our national visibility and has strengthened our efforts to provide Federal assistance to the water supply industry. Mr. Ruckelshaus has placed a high priority on our responsibilities for the protection of public drinking water. The budget for water £npp(w •hygifene has been almost doubled for this fiscal year with 2/3 of that ------- budget addressed to increased research needs. In addition our placement Sc^fop/y in EPA makes available to water hygienqr resources specific to environmental interests developed by the larger water pollution control program. These resources include public relations personnel and facilities, training facilities, manpower development programs, field and research facilities, and management assistance. We are still learning how these tools can best be used to assist the water supply industry in its role of providing safe drinking water to the public. Supplu Water HygJGtJe Program activities under EPA can best be described by considering the former DHEW water supply activities as they are now administered by EPA Update the Drinking Water Standards Following the development of the 1962 Standards, the Public Health Service, in 19&3, established'an Advisory Committee on the Use of the Public Health Service Drinking Wat&r Standards. This committee continued to appraise the quality requirements for drinking water, and in June 19&7 recommended several changes and additions to the Standards including maximum permissible concentrations for boron, fluorides as related to maximum daily air temperatures, nitrate plus nitrite as N, uranyl ion, and for 12 pesticides -and combinations of pesticides. These changes were not officially adopted because, in the opinion of the General Counsel of DHEW, they were not authorized under existing legislation. ------- -3- Recognizing the need for updating the current standards, the S*ppk Water Hygionfe Program under EPA organized a technical Task Force on Revision of Public Health Service Drinking Water Standards. This Task Force recently completed its reevaluation of information on several components of drinking water. The recommended changes include: 1. Specification of a general bacterial population (standard plate count) of 500 per USB ml for water delivered to the consumer. 2. Substitution of chlorine residual determinations for bacterial samples (with strict control specified). 3. Identification of the chemical standards as health related or aesthetic. k. Increase of the arsenic standard to 0.1 mg/1. 5. Reduction of turbidity to 1 unit and of odor to 2 units. 6. Addition of sodium at 2?0 mg/1, mercury at .005 mg/1, and various pesticides. 7. Deletion of phenols and TDS. 8. Nitrate to be specified as N, ABS nane changed to Foaming Agents, CCE to organic carbon absorbable with CCE, 0.3 and'CAS, 1.5. 9. Changes in radiological standards. Mr. Ruckelshaus has recently appointed a Public Advisory Committee to review the results of the technical task force efforts. Their first meeting will be held in December and it is hoped that the new standards will be in print within a year. ------- Interstate Carrier Water Supplies ^G^ppi^ The Water Hygiene. Program will continue to certify interstate carrier water supplies annually and will conduct periodic surveys of selected supplies. In order to compile prior directives governing the operation of the ICWS program and to provide specific criteria to be used in classifying a system, the "Guide for the Interstate Carrier Water Supply Certification Program"was prepared and became effective October 1, 1971. Copies of this guide, which was prepared with the cooperation of the Water and Wastewater Committee of the CSSE, have been made available to the managers of all ICWS through the various states. This'guide replaces the Approved, Provisionally Approved, and Prohibited classifications with Approved, Provisionally Approved (Quality), Provisionally Approved (Bacteriological Monitoring), Provisionally Approved (Facility), Provisionally Approved (Operation), Provisionally Approved (No Current Report), and Prohibited classifications. There \ are now 90 interstate carrier water supplies in Region V including every city of more than 100,000 people with the exception of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and Dearborn, Michigan. Basic and Applied Research SV^ply Great strides in expanding the Water "Sygieare Program's research efforts have been made in the past two years, fhere are now k labora- tories strategically located in the States of Rliode Island, Alabama, Washington, and Ohio. These laboratories are equipped and staffed to conduct research and technological studies in bacteriology, virology, ------- -5- organic and inorganic chemistry, and related sciences. The Cincinnati, Ohio laboratory features equipment and engineering competency to conduct research in water treatment and apply this knowledge to pilot plant studies. The other three laboratories, being located on the sea coast, can also conduct studies on marine estuaries on recreational and food production uses of water. Technical Services Technical services include training programs; evaluation of State programs; dissemination of information resulting from research, special studies, or other sources; and assistance in emergencies. Training courses offered either at Cincinnati or through field presentations have been greatly expanded in FY 1972. 11 courses are being offered in Cincinnati and 13 courses are scheduled in the field. The field courses deal primarily with fluoride application and monitoring. In addition, we propose to support, as much as possible, State sponsored short courses for water plant operators. If requested we will supply lecturers on those subjects you believe we are qualified to present. These lecturers can be provided from our regional, Cincinnati, or headquarters offices. In the Regional office we are particularly concerned with providing liaison to each of the State training programs in order to increase cooperation between the States and make Federal assistance more readily available. We are currently examining the potential for utilizing the manpower development programs of DHEW and Labor to train water treatment plant operators. ------- Several States have asked the Water •fiyglony Program to provide assistance by reviewing their programs to identify deficiencies and make recommendations concerning the needed staff and facility im- provements. Such studies have been completed or are in progress in Vermont, Tennessee, New Mexico, Maryland, Wyoming, Idaho and Kentucky. Through State program evaluations we hope we can help the States get the legislative and financial help they need in public water supply surveillance. Public Health Aspects of Water Resource Planning Within DREW the Water Hygiene Program was responsible for pro- viding DHEW liaison with other Federal and State agencies as well as coordinating and providing technical input on health aspects of water resource planning and municipal water supply. As a part of EPA we have been relieved of the liaison function and are now responsible only \ for providing technical input on health aspects seed municipal water supply. Liaison and review is provided by the EPA Planning Branch on framework and basin plans and by the EPA Federal Activities Branch on Federally sponsored projects. Health Aspects of Water Pollution This service is still provided to the water pollution control branches of EFA. The establishment of EPA has maae the liaison required for this activity easier. ------- In short the transfer of the Water Hygiene Program from DEE/I to EPA has emphasized our mandate to assist the water supply industry in providing safe water to the public. Ad Mr. Ruckelshaus stated in Denver "Pollution control alone cannot now assure a safe supply of drinking water - this the public should understand. Both today and henceforth, safe tap water is going to depend upon efficient municipal water treatment and distribution. ... I pledge the support of EPA in this effort to gain public under- standing of what water utilities have done and can still do to make drinking water safe for the consumer." ------- |