WHO SETS AND ENFORCES DRINKING WATER STANDARDS?
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the main federal law that ensures the quality of your drinking water. Under the authority of the SDWA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the states, localities and water suppliers who implement those standards. In New York, the State Health Department enforces the EPA’s regulations, and often makes them even more stringent. The EPA sets standards for approximately 145 regulated contaminants in drinking water. For each of these contaminants, EPA sets a legal limit, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL). EPA regulations specify stringent testing and reporting requirements for each contaminant. Water suppliers may not provide water that doesn’t meet these standards. Water that does meet these standards is safe to drink. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants do
