How does the Safe Drinking Water Act protect Americans?
Enacted in 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act is the primary national law to protect our public drinking water supplies. It establishes public health standards for contaminants found in drinking water. In 1996, President Clinton requested and Congress enacted the amendments to the Act to strengthen and expand the nation’s drinking water protections in four major areas: First, the new Act gives all Americans the right to know what contaminants are in their drinking water. Second, it strengthens standards to protect public health from the most significant threats to safe drinking water. Third, it provides first-ever money through a loan program for communities to upgrade drinking water systems. And fourth, it provides unprecedented protection for the sources of our drinking water, like rivers and lakes, to prevent contamination of the nation’s drinking water.
