Most Americans get their drinking
water from large scale municipal water systems that rely on surface
water sources such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs. However, millions
of Americans depend on private water sources such as
wells
and aquifers. In either case, the United States enjoys one of the
cleanest drinking water supplies in the world. The EPA regulates the
quality of the nation's drinking water by issuing and enforcing safe
drinking
water standards.
EPA requires each state
to adopt minimum standards for the development, implementation and
enforcement of operator certification programs for all community water
systems (CWSs) and non-transient non-community water systems (NTNCWSs)
in order to insure that water systems have properly trained and
certified operators.
CROSS-CONNECTION
AND BACKFLOW PREVENTION - Plumbing
cross-connections, which are defined as actual or potential
connections between a potable and non-potable water supply, constitute
a serious public health hazard. There are numerous, well-documented
cases where cross-connections have been responsible for contamination
of drinking water, and have resulted in the spread of disease. The
problem is a dynamic one, because piping systems are continually being
installed, altered, or extended.
FLUORIDATION
- The fluoridation of public drinking water
supplies is one of the greatest achievements in modern public
health. Fluoridation is the deliberate addition the naturally
occurring element, fluorine, to drinking water for the purpose
reducing tooth decay resulting in better health. The
effectiveness of fluoridation depends on how well the certified
water operator maintains teh optimal fluoride concentration. Check
out the
Manual for Water Plant Operators
on the US Department of Heal website for additional
information on fluoridation.
National Drinking water standards can be found on
the EPA's
Ground
Water and Drinking Water
homepage.
