EPA Issues Rule Intended to Protect Underground Drinking Water

November 9, 2006 // Published as a news service by IHS

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"The Bush Administration's groundwater rule boosts drinking water purity and public health security," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water.

"These first-ever standards will help communities prevent, detect and correct tainted groundwater problems so citizens continue to have clean and affordable drinking water."

The strategy incorporated in the rule is intended to provide for:

• Regular sanitary surveys of public water systems to look for significant deficiencies in key operational areas.
• Triggered source water monitoring when a system that does not sufficiently disinfect drinking water identifies a positive sample during its regular monitoring to comply with existing rules.
• Implementation of corrective actions by groundwater systems with a significant deficiency or evidence of source water fecal contamination.
• Compliance monitoring for systems that are sufficiently treating drinking water to ensure effective removal of pathogens.

A groundwater system is subject to triggered source water monitoring if its treatment methods don't already remove 99.99% of viruses, according to the EPA. Systems must begin to comply with the new requirements by Dec. 1, 2009.

Contaminants in question are pathogenic viruses - such as rotavirus, echoviruses, noroviruses - and pathogenic bacteria including E. coli, salmonella and shigella. Utilities will be required to look for and correct deficiencies in their operations to prevent contamination from these pathogens, said the EPA.

Microbial contaminants can cause gastroenteritis or, in rare cases, serious illnesses such as meningitis, hepatitis or myocarditis. The symptoms can range from mild to moderate cases lasting only a few days to more severe infections that can last several weeks and may result in death for those with weakened immune systems. The new groundwater rule will reduce the risk of these illnesses, said the EPA.

Fecal contamination can reach groundwater sources, including drinking water wells, from failed septic systems, leaking sewer lines and by passing through the soil and large cracks in the ground. Fecal contamination from the surface may also get into a drinking water well along its casing or through cracks if the well is not properly constructed, protected or maintained.

Between 1991 and 2000, groundwater systems were associated with 68 outbreaks that caused 10,926 illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Contaminated source water was the cause of 79% of the outbreaks in groundwater systems.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).