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Water suppliers
across the United States consistently deliver drinking water that
meets or exceeds EPA and state standards. Systems are regularly
tested for approximately 90 contaminants to make sure that no
contaminant is present at levels that may pose a risk to human
health. Water suppliers serving the same customers year round
summarize this information in an annual report called the Water Quality Report (see related article). This report
provides water consumers with a snapshot of their everyday water
quality.
There are times,
however, when water quality can change. Despite the best efforts of
water suppliers, problems with drinking water can occur. When there
is a problem with drinking water, the people who drink the water
have a right to know what happened and what they need to do. The
Public Notification Rule (PNR) of the Safe Drinking Water Act
requires water suppliers to provide this notice to their customers.
The EPA
specifies three (3) categories, or tiers, of public notification.
Depending on which tier a violation situation falls into, a water
system has from 24 hours to one year to notify customers.
CWA has a plan
in place to comply with the PNR. However, we also work very hard so
that we never have to put that plan into action.
For more
information concerning the PNR, you can log onto the EPA’s Web site
at
www.epa.gov. |
