EPA Seeks Warnings for Tap Water Consumers
Beginning next year, all Americans will be told--as many Californians already are--what is in their tap water and how safe it is to drink.
Regulations proposed Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a key element of the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act would require water companies to tell consumers at least once a year where their water comes from, the chemicals and bacteria that are in it and the potential health hazards of the contaminants.
The federal program would expand a process that is taking root around the country. Such notices already are provided to consumers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and some Maryland suburbs, according to the EPA.
Although water agencies in California already must distribute such data, it often arrives in confusing, technical lists and without health warnings that would add context. While local water officials are working to redesign their water quality brochures and inserts, the federal program will require that the information be provided in an easily understood format.
The new program also will allow agencies to list only contaminants that are detectable, which will make the information easier to read and understand, said Jennifer Smith, an environmental specialist with the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies 60% of the water consumed in a large area of Southern California. Water agencies also are being encouraged to use common, recognizable names of contaminants, like Roundup.
The program is one step in a series the Clinton administration has taken to draw attention to the quality of the nation’s water and air, particularly the release of toxic chemicals from smokestacks. The EPA’s action Wednesday is unrelated to the current focus on the potential risk that chemicals in tap water may pose to pregnant women.
A study by California researchers has suggested a possible link between chlorinated tap water and first-trimester miscarriages. The study found that pregnant women who drank five or more glasses of cold tap water per day containing at least 75 micrograms per liter of trihalomethanes had an increased risk of miscarriage.
While the information required by the federal regulations would not answer questions about the impact that this group of chemicals has on human health, the contaminants would be among those listed by water agencies in their annual documentation.
The administration has proposed requiring an initial reduction of at least 20% in trihalomethanes. California water officials would have about two years to decide whether to adopt the EPA standard for trihalomethanes or require an even greater reduction, Smith said. Known as TTHM, the chemicals are created by the interaction of chlorine, which is added to water to kill bacterial infections, and plant matter.
The regulations would require the nation’s 56,000 companies and public agencies that provide drinking water to report on overall water quality, whether it meets the federal agency’s safety standards, its likely sources of contaminants, and the health risks stemming from any water systems that violate the safety standards.
The reports also would disclose whether the water comes from local rivers, lakes or underground sources, as well as data covering violations and enforcement of drinking water standards.
Large water companies will be required to mail their reports to consumers; smaller companies serving fewer than 10,000 people will be allowed to print their reports in a local newspaper or post them in a central location.
“Two hundred forty million people will get in their mailboxes information on where their water comes from, the contaminants that are found in their water, whether the contaminants violated our standards, and what the health effects are,” Carol Browner, the EPA director, said in an interview.
In addition, in cases where contaminants--either chemicals or such microbes as cryptosporidia, which is potentially fatal to people with severely depressed immune systems--exceed permissible levels, companies will be required to disclose what steps they have taken to correct health-standard violations.
Cryptosporidia in the water supply killed 39 people in Las Vegas in 1994 and caused 100 deaths and about 400,000 cases of diarrhea in Milwaukee in 1993.
The notification regulations were a central element in the debate over the drinking water legislation. They were vigorously opposed by some members of Congress and drinking water suppliers, who argued that the program would confuse consumers with highly technical information. Clinton signed the bill in August 1996.
But administration officials said opponents’ real concern was the additional cost of providing cleaner water when consumers became aware of the chemicals and bacteria that are coming out of their taps.
“When you arm the public with this type of information, the result is increased public health and protection,” Browner said.
In California, water agencies are in the midst of compiling data from 1997 to include in their annual reports, which they will begin mailing to some consumers within weeks. Some have considered delaying their reports to address the new concerns raised about trihalomethanes.
Even before the disclosure of the possible link between tap water and miscarriages, the MWD had begun shifting its method of disinfecting water to rely less on chlorine, said spokesman Rob Hallwachs. Chlorine has been identified as a possible carcinogen.
The MWD also is spending $200 million to retrofit two of its five filtration plants to an ozone-based cleansing system, which produces far lower levels of TTHM and is more effective in killing microorganisms such as cryptosporidium, Hallwachs said. The redesign is expected to be completed in five years. In March, the water agency’s board of directors will consider a $400-million plan to retrofit the remaining plants.
The water district is preparing information for the water agencies it serves on how to explain the health risks of tap water to consumers, he said, adding that staff meetings are scheduled in Los Angeles today and in San Diego on Friday to prepare agency workers to answer the onslaught of questions from consumers.
Gerstenzang reported from Washington and Rivera from Los Angeles.
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Clearing It Up
Proposed EPA rules for reporting on water quality would bring other states into line with regulations in place in California since 1989. Consumers must be informed of:
* The sources of their drinking water.
* What contaminants have been found; whether they exceed safety standards and if so, what are the health effects.
* Where the contaminants come from.
* How to get information on the status of their state’s contamination problem.
* Where to learn more about related topics.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
