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Turn on the tap, and water flows. For most Americans, this simple act represents one of the greatest public health achievements in human history.
The safety of that water isn’t guaranteed—it depends on a complex system of laws, science, government oversight, and individual responsibility that most people never think about.
The water reaching your glass has traveled a long journey, protected by safeguards designed to shield it from contamination. But this system faces serious challenges: aging pipes that break 240,000 times a year, emerging chemicals that weren’t regulated when your grandparents were born, and a changing climate that’s making water treatment harder and more expensive.
The Foundation: The Safe Drinking Water Act
The primary federal law protecting America’s drinking water is the Safe Drinking Water Act, passed in 1974. Before this landmark legislation, the United States had no single federal law ensuring water safety. Instead, a patchwork of inconsistent state and local regulations existed, often focusing more on providing adequate water quantity than quality.
Building the Safety Net
The original law granted the Environmental Protection Agency authority to set uniform, national health-based standards for drinking water to protect the public from both naturally occurring and man-made contaminants.
Two major amendments significantly strengthened the law:
The 1986 amendments responded to slow regulatory progress and growing contamination concerns. These amendments mandated that EPA accelerate regulation of 83 specific contaminants, required public water systems using surface water to disinfect and often filter their water, and banned the use of lead pipes, flux, and solder in new plumbing installations.
The 1996 amendments introduced new principles of transparency, funding, and risk assessment. These amendments required EPA to conduct detailed risk and cost-benefit analyses when developing new standards, established the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to help pay for infrastructure upgrades, and created the “right-to-know” provisions requiring water suppliers to provide customers with annual water quality reports.
Federal-State Partnership
The law creates a federal-state partnership, but establishes a floor, not a ceiling, for water protection. EPA sets minimum national standards that all public water systems must meet. However, states can apply for “primacy”—the primary authority to oversee and enforce regulations within their borders.
To gain primacy, states must adopt regulations at least as stringent as EPA’s national standards. Currently, 55 out of 57 states and territories hold this authority.
This structure allows state-level flexibility, but it also creates what critics call a “confusing and complicated system.” The practical effect is that enforcement quality, oversight diligence, and resources dedicated to water safety can vary significantly from state to state. Your protection under the same federal law isn’t uniform nationwide—it depends on your specific state’s performance.
Who’s Protected and Who’s Not
The Safe Drinking Water Act protections apply specifically to Public Water Systems—those that provide water through pipes to at least 15 service connections or regularly serve at least 25 individuals for at least 60 days a year. There are more than 150,000 such systems across the U.S., serving over 300 million people.
EPA categorizes these systems into three types:
Community Water Systems: Provide water to the same population year-round, such as homes and apartment buildings. Though they number only around 52,000, they serve the vast majority of the U.S. population and face the most comprehensive regulations.
Non-Transient Non-Community Water Systems: Provide water to the same people for at least six months a year, but not year-round. Examples include schools, factories, or office buildings with their own water systems. There are approximately 85,000 of these.
Transient Non-Community Water Systems: Provide water where people don’t remain for long periods, such as gas stations, campgrounds, and parks. There are about 18,000 of these systems, typically required to monitor only for contaminants posing immediate, short-term health risks.
Crucially, the Safe Drinking Water Act doesn’t regulate private residential wells serving fewer than 25 individuals. This creates a major gap in public health protection, placing full responsibility for water safety on the approximately one in eight American households that rely on private wells.
How EPA Regulates Contaminants
EPA is tasked with identifying harmful contaminants in drinking water and setting science-based standards to protect public health. This process isn’t arbitrary—it’s a deliberate, multi-step pipeline governed by Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.
The Regulatory Pipeline
EPA has drinking water regulations for more than 90 contaminants, but it can’t regulate every substance that might be found in water. The law mandates a systematic process to prioritize the most significant health risks and gather sufficient scientific evidence before issuing new rules.
Contaminant Candidate List: Every five years, EPA publishes a list of unregulated contaminants known or anticipated to occur in drinking water that may require future regulation. This list serves as EPA’s watchlist, helping prioritize research and data collection efforts.
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule: To determine if contaminants on the candidate list are actually present in the nation’s water supplies and at what levels, EPA uses this monitoring program. Every five years, EPA requires selected public water systems to monitor for at least 30 specific unregulated contaminants.
Regulatory Determination: Armed with health effects research and occurrence data, EPA must every five years make formal decisions on whether to regulate at least five contaminants from the candidate list. For regulation, a contaminant must meet three criteria: it may adversely affect human health; it’s known to occur or substantially likely to occur in public water systems with frequency and at levels of public health concern; and regulation presents a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction.
Regulation Development: Once EPA makes a positive regulatory determination, strict timelines kick in. The agency has 24 months to propose a new drinking water regulation and another 18 months to finalize it.
Six-Year Review: The process doesn’t end with new rules. The law requires EPA to review each existing national drinking water regulation every six years and, if appropriate, revise it to incorporate new scientific data or treatment technologies.
The Problem with This System
This regulatory process is inherently slow and reactive, creating significant time lag between scientific identification of potential threats and implementation of protective national standards. The multi-step, multi-year pipeline means a decade or more can pass from the time a contaminant is first flagged as a concern to the day an enforceable limit exists.
This delay is particularly evident with emerging contaminants. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), for instance, have been used in industry and consumer products for decades, but a final, enforceable EPA standard for them is only now being implemented. Microplastics, despite growing health concerns, aren’t yet in the formal regulatory pipeline.
The system was designed for an era of well-understood industrial pollutants from identifiable sources. It’s structurally ill-equipped to respond with agility to modern, ubiquitous contaminants discovered to be harmful only after they’re already widespread in the environment and our bodies.
Understanding Water Quality Standards
When EPA finalizes a regulation, it establishes specific limits and requirements that public water systems must meet. Understanding these terms is essential for interpreting your water quality report:
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): This is a purely health-based goal—the maximum level of a contaminant in drinking water at which there’s no known or anticipated adverse health effect, allowing for an adequate margin of safety. When setting this goal, EPA considers sensitive populations including infants, children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. For contaminants that can cause cancer or microbial contaminants where a single organism can cause illness, the MCLG is set at zero. The MCLG is non-enforceable.
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): This is the legally enforceable standard—the highest level of a contaminant allowed in drinking water from public water systems. The MCL is set as close to the MCLG as is technologically and economically feasible, meaning EPA considers what’s achievable using the best available treatment technology and takes cost into account.
Treatment Technique (TT): For some contaminants, it’s not practical or affordable to measure them at the tap. In these cases, EPA sets a Treatment Technique instead of an MCL—an enforceable procedure or required level of technological performance that public water systems must follow to control a contaminant.
National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations: These are non-enforceable federal guidelines for contaminants that may cause cosmetic effects (like skin or tooth discoloration) or aesthetic effects (like unpleasant taste, odor, or color). While EPA doesn’t enforce these “secondary standards,” states may choose to adopt and enforce them.
State Partnership
While EPA sets national standards, day-to-day implementation and enforcement is primarily handled by states. State primacy agencies—typically departments of health or environmental protection—conduct inspections of water facilities, provide technical assistance to operators, review water quality monitoring data, and take enforcement actions against systems failing to meet standards.
States report compliance data to EPA, which maintains the national Safe Drinking Water Information System database. Citizens can search this database for information on their local water supplier.
What’s Actually in Your Water
The water flowing from your tap contains much more than pure H2O. Many substances are harmless, some are beneficial (like fluoride added for dental health), but others can pose serious health risks.
EPA regulates contaminants across several major categories: microorganisms, disinfectants and their byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, and radionuclides. Understanding these categories, along with emerging threats like PFAS and microplastics, is key to interpreting your water quality and protecting your health.
Key Regulated Contaminants
| Contaminant | Type | EPA Standard | Potential Health Effects | Common Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbial Contaminants | ||||
| Cryptosporidium, Giardia | Microorganism | Treatment Technique | Gastrointestinal illness (diarrhea, vomiting, cramps) | Human and animal fecal waste |
| Total Coliforms | Microorganism | MCL: 5% of samples positive | Indicates other harmful bacteria may be present | Naturally present in environment; E. coli from fecal waste |
| Disinfection Byproducts | ||||
| Total Trihalomethanes | Disinfection Byproduct | MCL: 0.080 mg/L | Liver, kidney, or nervous system problems; cancer risk | Byproduct of chlorine disinfection |
| Haloacetic Acids | Disinfection Byproduct | MCL: 0.060 mg/L | Increased cancer risk | Byproduct of chlorine disinfection |
| Inorganic Chemicals | ||||
| Arsenic | Inorganic Chemical | MCL: 0.010 mg/L | Skin damage, circulatory problems, cancer risk | Natural deposits; runoff from orchards, electronics |
| Lead | Inorganic Chemical | Action Level: 0.015 mg/L | Developmental delays in children; kidney problems, high blood pressure in adults | Corrosion of household plumbing and lead service lines |
| Copper | Inorganic Chemical | Action Level: 1.3 mg/L | Gastrointestinal distress; liver or kidney damage | Corrosion of household plumbing; natural deposits |
| Nitrate | Inorganic Chemical | MCL: 10 mg/L | “Blue baby syndrome” in infants under 6 months (can be fatal) | Fertilizer runoff; septic tanks; sewage; natural deposits |
| Organic Chemicals | ||||
| Atrazine | Organic Chemical | MCL: 0.003 mg/L | Cardiovascular or reproductive problems | Herbicide runoff from row crops |
| Benzene | Organic Chemical | MCL: 0.005 mg/L | Anemia; decreased blood platelets; cancer risk | Factory discharge; gas storage tank leaching |
| Radionuclides | ||||
| Uranium | Radionuclide | MCL: 30 µg/L | Cancer risk; kidney toxicity | Natural deposits |
| Radium 226/228 | Radionuclide | MCL: 5 pCi/L | Increased cancer risk | Natural deposits |
Regional Risk Patterns
A contaminant’s source provides powerful clues to its potential presence in your water. Risk isn’t uniform across the country—it depends on local industry, agriculture, geology, and infrastructure age.
A rural community in an agricultural region is more likely to face challenges with nitrates and pesticides from fertilizer and herbicide runoff. A town in specific geological areas might have naturally high levels of arsenic or uranium in groundwater. An older city with aging infrastructure faces high risk for lead contamination from corroding service lines.
Even necessary water disinfection creates its own chemical risks in the form of disinfection byproducts. This means you can’t rely solely on national-level information—you must investigate your local context.
Emerging Contaminants
Some of the most pressing water quality threats come from contaminants that aren’t yet, or are only newly, regulated by EPA. These “emerging contaminants” are often widespread in the environment before their health risks are fully understood.
PFAS: “Forever Chemicals”
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a large family of thousands of synthetic chemicals used since the 1940s in industrial and consumer products, including non-stick cookware, water-resistant clothing, stain-resistant carpets, and firefighting foams. They’re called “forever chemicals” because their unique chemical structure makes them extremely resistant to breaking down in the environment and in our bodies.
Sources and Health Risks: PFAS enter drinking water through industrial discharges, releases from military bases and airports where firefighting foam was used, and leaching from landfills and consumer products. Scientific evidence shows that exposure to certain PFAS, even at very low levels, may lead to increased cholesterol levels, changes in liver enzymes, decreased vaccine response in children, increased risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women, and increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer.
Recent Regulation: Recognizing these risks, EPA took a historic step in April 2024, finalizing the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard for six specific PFAS chemicals, including the two most studied: PFOA and PFOS. Public water systems will be required to monitor for these chemicals and take action to reduce them if levels exceed the new standards.
Microplastics
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles, formally defined as being less than 5 millimeters in length, though many are microscopic. Even smaller particles, called nanoplastics, are less than 1 micrometer in size and small enough to potentially pass through biological barriers and enter the body’s cells and tissues.
Sources: Microplastics aren’t a single contaminant but a diverse mixture of plastic types, shapes, and sizes. They originate from breakdown of larger plastic waste, shedding of synthetic fibers from clothing during laundry, tire abrasion on roadways, and intentional addition of microbeads to personal care products (now banned in the U.S.). They’re now ubiquitous in the environment and found in drinking water worldwide, in both tap water and bottled water.
Health Concerns: The science on human health effects is still emerging, but initial findings are concerning. The risks are twofold: the plastic particles themselves can cause physical stress, inflammation, and cell damage upon accumulation in tissues and organs. Studies in mice have linked microplastic ingestion to cognitive decline similar to dementia. Second, microplastics act like sponges, absorbing other toxic chemicals from the environment and carrying them into the body when ingested.
Despite these growing concerns, EPA doesn’t currently regulate microplastics in drinking water. They’re not yet on the Contaminant Candidate List, meaning the formal regulatory process hasn’t begun.
Your Right to Know: Reading Your Water Quality Report
The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act amendments established a fundamental right for all Americans served by community water systems: the right to know what’s in their drinking water and where it comes from. The primary tool for exercising this right is the annual water quality report, officially known as the Consumer Confidence Report.
The Consumer Confidence Report
Every Community Water System must prepare and distribute a Consumer Confidence Report to customers by July 1st each year. This report provides a summary of water quality data collected during the previous calendar year.
Your report must include:
Your Water’s Source: Identification of the lake, river, aquifer, or other body of water from which your drinking water is drawn.
Detected Contaminants: Any regulated contaminants detected in the water during testing.
Compliance with EPA Standards: Levels of those contaminants compared to national standards.
Violations: If the water system failed to meet any EPA standard, it must clearly state this, explain potential health effects, and describe corrective actions.
Educational Information: Standard educational statements about contaminants like lead, arsenic, nitrate, and Cryptosporidium, especially if they’re potential concerns in your area.
Contact Information: Phone numbers for your local water system and the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
Finding Your Report
Your report may be mailed directly, often included with a water bill. However, if you live in an apartment, condominium, or rental property where the landlord pays the water bill, you may not receive a copy automatically. In this case, contact your building manager or search online using terms like “[Your City] Water Quality Report” or “[Your Water Utility Name] Consumer Confidence Report.”
EPA also provides a search tool to help you find your local report.
Reading Your Report
A “passing” or “compliant” report is a good sign, but doesn’t guarantee zero risk, nor does it necessarily reflect water quality at your individual tap. A water system can be fully compliant while still delivering water containing contaminants at levels above EPA’s non-enforceable health goals.
Furthermore, the report reflects water quality in main distribution lines but can’t account for contamination within a building’s own “premise plumbing.” The most significant example is lead. A water system can have a perfectly clean report for lead because water in its mains is lead-free, but if an individual home is connected by a lead service line or has older brass fixtures or lead solder, water at that specific tap can become highly contaminated.
The report should be seen as a critical starting point for investigation, not the final word on your water’s safety.
Key Data Points to Check
The heart of the report is the water quality data table. Focus on these key columns:
Contaminant Name: What substances were tested for and detected in your water.
Your Water/Amount Detected: The actual level of contaminant found in your water, either as yearly average or as a range.
MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level): The legal limit. If the level in your water is higher than the MCL, your water system is violating federal law.
MCLG (Maximum Contaminant Level Goal): The health goal. If your water’s contaminant level is below the MCLG, there’s no known or expected health risk. If the level is above the MCLG but still below the MCL, your water is legally compliant but still carries some potential health risk.
Violation (Yes/No): Quick confirmation of compliance status.
Typical Source: Likely origin of the contaminant, providing valuable context.
Important Terms
Action Level: A special standard used for lead and copper. It’s not an MCL but a trigger for action. If more than 10% of high-risk homes have lead or copper levels exceeding the Action Level, the utility must take additional actions.
MRDL/MRDLG (Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level/Goal): Legal limit and health goal for disinfectants like chlorine and chloramines, which are intentionally added to kill germs.
Treatment Technique: If you see “TT” in the MCL column, the system is required to follow a specific treatment process rather than meet a concentration limit.
Units of Measurement: Contaminants are measured in very small amounts:
- ppm (parts per million) or mg/L (milligrams per liter): One ppm equals one drop of ink in a 50-gallon bathtub
- ppb (parts per billion) or µg/L (micrograms per liter): One ppb equals one drop of ink in an entire swimming pool
Home Water Treatment
While public water systems are responsible for delivering water meeting federal standards, some people choose to take additional steps to treat their water at home. Whether due to specific health concerns, issues identified in water quality reports, or desire to improve taste and odor, home water treatment systems can provide an additional layer of protection.
When to Consider a Filter
You might consider installing a point-of-use (at the tap) or point-of-entry (whole house) water filter if:
- Your water quality report shows a contaminant is present, even if below the legal MCL
- You have vulnerable individuals in your household (compromised immune systems, elderly, pregnant women, infants)
- Your water has unpleasant taste, odor, or color
- You’re concerned about emerging contaminants like PFAS or microplastics
- You have a private well and testing has revealed contaminant presence
Independent Certifications: The Gold Standard
The home water filter market is filled with products making bold claims about performance. However, these claims aren’t regulated by the federal government. A manufacturer can state that its filter removes a contaminant without providing independent proof.
The only way to be certain a filter will effectively protect your health from specific contaminants is to choose one that’s been independently tested and certified by an accredited third-party organization. The most recognized certification bodies are NSF International, the Water Quality Association, and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.
Key Certification Standards
When looking for filters to address health-related contaminants, look for these NSF/ANSI standards:
NSF/ANSI 53: Drinking Water Treatment Units – Health Effects: The primary standard for filters designed to reduce specific health-related contaminants. A filter certified to this standard has been tested and verified to reduce at least one contaminant, such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cysts, volatile organic compounds, or specific PFAS chemicals.
NSF/ANSI 58: Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Treatment Systems: Applies specifically to reverse osmosis systems. RO is a highly effective filtration method that can remove a very broad range of contaminants. Systems certified to this standard are proven to significantly reduce total dissolved solids and can be certified for reducing other contaminants like lead, arsenic, nitrates, and PFAS.
NSF/ANSI 401: Emerging Contaminants/Incidental Contaminants: Covers the ability of a filter to remove up to 15 contaminants, including certain pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, and flame retardants that may be found in water at trace levels.
Matching Filter to Problem
Different filtration technologies are effective against different contaminants. Match the filter to the problem you’re trying to solve:
Activated Carbon Filters: Common in pitcher filters, faucet-mount filters, and under-sink systems. Excellent at improving taste and odor by removing chlorine. When certified to NSF/ANSI 53, they can also effectively reduce lead, some volatile organic compounds, and certain PFAS chemicals.
Reverse Osmosis Systems: Typically installed under the sink and among the most powerful filtration methods available for home use. RO systems use a semi-permeable membrane to force water through, leaving a wide array of contaminants behind. Highly effective at removing heavy metals, nitrates, total dissolved solids, fluoride, and PFAS.
Ion Exchange: Most commonly found in water softeners designed to remove “hardness” minerals like calcium and magnesium. Specific ion exchange resins can also remove harmful contaminants like nitrate, barium, and arsenic.
Distillation: Involves boiling water and collecting condensed steam, leaving most contaminants behind. Effective at removing minerals, heavy metals, and nitrates, but it’s a slow and energy-intensive process not commonly used for whole-house treatment.
Private Well Owners: You’re On Your Own
For the nearly one in seven American households that rely on private wells for drinking water, Safe Drinking Water Act protections don’t apply. There’s no government agency monitoring water quality, no utility treating it to meet safety standards, and no required annual report.
If you’re a private well owner, you are your own water manager. The full responsibility for ensuring your water is safe to drink rests with you. This lack of federal regulation has created a significant public health equity gap—the entire burden of water safety is shifted onto individual homeowners.
Protecting Your Source
For a private well, the first and most important line of defense against contamination is proper well construction, location, and maintenance.
Well Location: A well should be located on higher ground so surface runoff drains away from it, not toward it. The CDC recommends minimum setback distances:
- At least 50 feet from septic tanks and leach fields
- At least 50 feet from livestock yards, silos, or septic leach fields
- At least 100 feet from petroleum tanks, manure storage, and fertilizer storage areas
Well Construction: A properly constructed well has several key components designed to keep contaminants out. The well casing is a solid pipe lining the well opening to prevent collapse and block shallow, potentially contaminated groundwater. The top must be sealed with a secure, watertight well cap. The area around the casing should be sealed with grout to prevent contaminants from seeping down along the outside of the pipe.
Regular Maintenance: Conduct visual inspections at least once yearly. Check for signs of damage such as cracked or corroded casing, broken or missing well cap, or settling and cracking of the surface seal. Keep the area around the well clear of debris and potential pollutants.
Testing Schedule for Private Wells
Since the government doesn’t require you to test your water, you must be proactive. Here’s a recommended testing schedule based on CDC and EPA recommendations:
| Test/Contaminant | Frequency | Why It’s Important |
|---|---|---|
| Total Coliform Bacteria | Annually | Primary indicator of water safety; presence suggests harmful germs from sewage or animal waste may have entered the well |
| Nitrate | Annually | High levels can cause serious illness in infants (“blue baby syndrome”); presence can indicate contamination from fertilizers, septic systems, or animal waste |
| pH Level | Annually | Water that’s too acidic or basic can be corrosive, causing lead and other heavy metals to leach from pipes |
| Total Dissolved Solids | Annually | Measures total minerals and salts; high TDS can affect taste and cause scale buildup |
| Lead | Every 3-5 years | Highly toxic, especially to children; typically gets into water by leaching from older pipes, solder, or fixtures |
| Arsenic | Every 3-5 years | Toxic metal and known carcinogen that can occur naturally in groundwater, particularly in certain geographic regions |
| Radon | Every 3-5 years | Naturally occurring radioactive gas that can dissolve in groundwater and be released into home air during showering |
| Volatile Organic Compounds | If near potential sources | Chemicals from fuels, solvents, and industrial products; test if near gas stations, industrial sites, or landfills |
You should also test any time you notice changes in taste, odor, or appearance; after floods or major land disturbance near the well; if you’re expecting a baby or have an infant; or if household members experience unexplained gastrointestinal illness.
Taking Action on Test Results
To get reliable results, use a state-certified laboratory. Your local health department or state environmental agency can provide a list of certified labs. You can also find state-by-state listings on the EPA’s website.
If test results show contaminant levels exceeding health standards:
- Stop drinking the water immediately – Use bottled water or water from another known safe source
- Contact your local health department – They can provide specific advice on health risks and next steps
- Confirm the result – Have the well re-tested to confirm contaminant presence and concentration
- Explore solutions – Depending on the contaminant, solutions may include well disinfection (for bacteria), installing home water treatment systems, or drilling a new well
System-Wide Threats
The entire framework of water safety in the United States faces two profound, interconnected threats: aging water infrastructure and escalating climate change pressures. These national-scale challenges threaten to undermine decades of public health progress.
The Aging Infrastructure Crisis
Much of the nation’s drinking water infrastructure—the vast network of pipes, pumps, and treatment plants—is old, underfunded, and nearing the end of its operational life. A significant portion was built in the post-World War II era and is now operating well past its intended 50- to 75-year lifespan.
Water Main Breaks: There are approximately 240,000 water main breaks in the U.S. each year. These failures cause costly service disruptions and create critical vulnerabilities. When a pipe breaks, loss of pressure can allow bacteria, soil, and other contaminants from the surrounding environment to be sucked into the drinking water system.
Massive Water Loss: Our aging systems are incredibly inefficient. National studies suggest that, on average, 14% of all treated drinking water is lost to leaks before reaching customers; in some systems, the loss rate exceeds 60%. EPA estimates that over 2 trillion gallons of clean, treated water are lost annually in the U.S.
Lead Contamination: The single greatest source of lead in the nation’s drinking water is corrosion of old infrastructure, primarily the more than 9 million lead service lines still in use, connecting homes and buildings to water mains.
Staggering Funding Gap: EPA’s 2023 assessment estimated that the nation needs to invest $625 billion in drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years to ensure public health protection. When combined with wastewater and stormwater needs, the total 20-year infrastructure price tag exceeds $1.2 trillion.
While federal programs like the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and recent investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provide critical support, a massive funding gap remains. This shortfall often forces utilities to defer necessary upgrades and pass increasing costs to consumers through higher water bills.
Climate Change: The Threat Multiplier
Climate change is placing unprecedented stress on water resources, acting as a “threat multiplier” that exacerbates vulnerabilities of aging infrastructure and directly impacts both quality and quantity of water supplies.
Drought and Water Scarcity: Across large parts of the country, particularly the West, rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns lead to more frequent and intense droughts. Reduced rainfall and diminishing mountain snowpack shrink available water in rivers and reservoirs. This not only creates water shortages but degrades water quality by concentrating existing pollutants in smaller volumes of remaining water.
Extreme Rainfall and Flooding: While some areas get drier, others experience more frequent and intense rainfall events. Heavy downpours increase surface runoff, washing surges of pollutants into source waters. This sudden influx of contamination can overwhelm water treatment facilities, potentially leading to treatment failures or boil water advisories. Flooding also poses direct physical threats to water infrastructure.
Harmful Algal Blooms: The combination of warmer water temperatures and increased nutrient runoff from intense storms creates perfect conditions for explosive growth of harmful algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs. These blooms can produce potent toxins dangerous to humans and animals, forcing water utilities to shut down their intakes for extended periods.
Saltwater Intrusion: In coastal communities, sea-level rise threatens to push saltwater farther inland into freshwater aquifers and rivers that supply drinking water. This saltwater intrusion can contaminate these sources, making them unusable without expensive desalination treatment.
The Downward Spiral
The intertwined crises of aging infrastructure and climate change are creating a downward spiral. The existing water safety system, designed for the relatively stable climate and infrastructure of the 20th century, is being systematically weakened.
Climate change introduces more extreme physical stresses that exploit weaknesses of old, brittle pipes, while simultaneously degrading the quality of raw water that aging treatment plants must process. Financial models aren’t keeping up, leading to a reactive cycle of costly emergency repairs rather than proactive investment in resilient, modern systems.
Without massive and strategic funding infusion and national commitment to building climate-resilient water infrastructure, the United States faces a future of more frequent service disruptions, more contamination events, and potential erosion of the very public health gains the Safe Drinking Water Act was created to secure.
Key Resources
Find Your Consumer Confidence Report Website: epa.gov/ccr
Safe Drinking Water Information System (Water System Search) Website: enviro.epa.gov/facts/sdwis/search.html
NSF International (Filter Certification) Website: nsf.org
Private Well Information Website: epa.gov/privatewells
Understanding your water’s journey from source to tap empowers you to make informed decisions about your family’s health. Whether you’re reading your annual water quality report, considering a home filter, or testing your private well, knowledge is your best protection in ensuring the water you drink is safe.
Our articles make government information more accessible. Please consult a qualified professional for financial, legal, or health advice specific to your circumstances.
