The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was originally passed by Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply. The law was amended in 1986 and 1996 and requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources—rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells.

The SDWA authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water. The EPA, states, and water systems then work together to make sure that these standards are met.

The SWDA was established to protect the quality of drinking water in the U.S. This law focuses on all waters actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources. The SWDA is located in the federal statutes (U.S. Code), beginning at 42 U.S.C. §300f.

The SWDA was originally passed by Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply. The law was amended in 1986 and 1996 and requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources—rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells.

• The SWDA authorizes the EPA to establish minimum standards to protect tap water and requires all owners or operators of public water systems to comply with these primary (health-related) standards.

The law was amended in 1986 and 1996 and requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources—rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells.

• The SDWA does not regulate private wells which serve fewer than 25 individuals.

• The 1996 amendments to SDWA require that the EPA consider a detailed risk and cost assessment, and best available peer-reviewed science, when developing these standards.

• State governments, which can be approved to implement these rules for the EPA, also encourage attainment of secondary standards (nuisance-related).

• Under the Act, the EPA also establishes minimum standards for state programs to protect underground sources of drinking water from endangerment by underground injection of fluids.

• The EPA, states, and water systems then work together to make sure that these standards are met.

The Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) program is designed to protect public health by ensuring the safety of drinking water. The public drinking water systems regulated by the EPA, and authorized states, territories and tribes provide drinking water to 90 percent of Americans. These public drinking water systems—which may be publicly or privately owned—serve at least 15 service connections or 25 persons. Private, individual household wells are not regulated by the EPA.

The EPA’s and states’ primary means of monitoring public water system compliance with the SDWA and its implementing regulations is the review and evaluation of analytical results of water samples collected by public water systems. These reports provide the water systems and regulators with the data they need to ensure that drinking water monitoring is ongoing and that the drinking water standards are being met.

When results indicate that a contaminant is present at a level that exceeds standards, states and the EPA work with public water systems to take steps to prevent or remove the contaminants and notify consumers so that they can make informed choices.

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), a federal law enacted in 1974 and amended in 1986 and 1996, is designed to protect public health by regulating the nation's public drinking water supply. In Arkansas, as in other states, the SDWA mandates that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set national health-based standards to safeguard drinking water from contaminants. While the EPA is responsible for establishing these standards, it works in conjunction with state governments to ensure compliance. Arkansas may have its own state agency tasked with implementing and enforcing these standards, often with the possibility of setting more stringent requirements than the federal baseline. The SDWA does not apply to private wells serving fewer than 25 individuals. The EPA also oversees the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) program, which monitors public water systems serving at least 15 service connections or 25 persons. Compliance is primarily assessed through the evaluation of water sample analyses provided by public water systems. When contaminants exceed acceptable levels, the EPA and state authorities collaborate with the affected systems to address the issue and inform the public.