Water Supply Protection And The Safe Drinking Water Act Of 1974

The Safe Drinking Water Act came about in 1974 by the Environmental Protection Agency. It was enacted to make sure that drinking water is safe water for consumption and to help stop the widespread pollution of natural water resources. It is enforceable by the law and has two parts to the regulations. One is punishable by fines and sentences and the other is recommendations.

A 15 member committee set the laws and standards that drinking water must meet. There are two parts to the regulation and laws. One is the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation and the second is the National Secondary Drinking Water Regulation. The drinking water standards apply to any public water source being pumped to at least twenty-five people. It does not cover well water. If you do have water that comes from a well, then you will need to test the water yourself in order to determine if it is safe for consumption. One way to ensure this is to make sure your waste from your home is no where near your water source.

It is your responsibility to know how the Safe Drinking Water Act helps you. While one part is enforceable by the law, the other is simply a guideline. For the most part, public water systems follow both sets of guidelines to ensure that people are happy with the quality of their water. A glass of dingy water may not be the best thing for advocating the use of tap water versus products from the bottled water industry. But thanks to these laws you can drink your glass of clear water and know that you are helping the environment by not buying plastic bottles that may be filled with tap water anyway.