Description
Book SynopsisThe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 instituted regulatory changes to the seminal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) such as providing funding to communities facing health risks. This book provides a comprehensive resource on the regulatory landscape and covers topics such as water treatment, and water protection.
Trade Review“...a 'one-stop shopping' compendium of information...another valuable addition to the environmental professional's library of critical references.” (
Environmental Practice, March 2005)
"This book is a must-read for water utilities, consultants, and regulators…it not only explains the regulations and the regulatory process, but also provides essential information on water treatment, water protection, public health, and future issues." (Journal of Environmental Quality, May-June 2004)
Table of ContentsPreface xix
Acknowledgments xxi
Contributors xxiii
Acronyms xxvii
PART I THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AND PUBLIC HEALTH 1
1 Drinking Water and Public Health Protection 3
Daniel A. Okun
1.1 Introduction, 3
1.2 Water Supply for the City of Rome, 4
1.3 The Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution, 5
1.4 The Great Sanitary Awakening, 6
1.5 The Emergence of Water as a Public Health Issue, 9
1.6 The Beginning of Water Treatment, 11
1.7 The Chemical Revolution, 13
1.8 The Introduction of Regulations, 14
1.9 Prelude to the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act, 17
1.10 Drinking Water in Developing Countries, 19
1.11 The Future of Public Water Supply, 21
2 Improving Waterborne Disease Surveillance 25
Floyd J. Frost, Rebecca L. Calderon and Gunther F. Craun
2.1 Introduction, 25
2.2 Background, 26
2.3 Limitations of the Current Disease Surveillance Systems, 28
2.4 Early Detection of Outbreaks, 31
2.5 Endemic Disease, 32
2.6 Applicability of Outbreak Investigations, 34
2.7 Monitoring Infection Versus Disease, 36
2.8 Improving Disease Surveillance, 38
3 Waterborne Outbreaks in the United States, 1971–2000 45
Gunther F. Craun, Rebecca L. Calderon, and Michael F. Craun
3.1 Introduction, 45
3.2 Waterborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, 46
3.3 Waterborne Outbreak Statistics, 48
3.4 Causes of Outbreaks in Drinking Water Systems, 55
3.5 Outbreaks Associated with Recreational Waters, 61
3.6 Outbreak Trends, 65
4 History of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) 71
Frederick W. Pontius
4.1 Introduction, 71
4.2 Early Development of Drinking Water Standards, 72
4.3 The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, 73
4.4 1986 SDWA Amendments, 79
4.5 1988 Lead Contamination Control Act, 80
4.6 1996 SDWA Amendments, 81
4.7 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act, 91
4.8 Future Outlook, 95
5 SDWA: Looking to the Future 105
Diane VanDe Hei and Thomas Schaeffer
5.1 Introduction, 105
5.2 U.S. Governmental Structure, 105
5.3 How Laws Are Made, 107
5.4 Forces Shaping the SDWA and Amendments, 111
5.5 Future Amendments to the SDWA, 121
5.6 Outlook for Major Change, 0127
PART II REGULATION DEVELOPMENT 131
6 Toxicological Basis for Drinking Water Risk Assessment 133
Joyce Morrissey Donohue and Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta
6.1 Introduction, 133
6.2 Toxicological Evaluation of Drinking Water Contaminants, 133
6.3 Use of Toxicity Information in Risk Assessment, 137
6.4 Health Advisories, 143
6.5 Future Outlook, 145
7 Epidemiologic Concepts for Interpreting Findings in Studies of Drinking Water Exposures 147
Gunther F. Craun, Rebecca L. Calderon and Floyd J. Frost
7.1 Introduction, 147
7.2 What Is Epidemiology?, 149
7.3 Historical Origins, 149
7.4 Disease Models, 150
7.5 Basic Measures of Disease Frequency, 152
7.6 Types of Epidemiologic Studies, 156
7.7 Examples: Experimental, Cohort, and Case–Control Studies, 170
7.8 Future Trends in Epidemiology and Drinking Water, 178
8 Application of Risk Assessments in Crafting Drinking Water Regulations 183
Bruce A. Macler
8.1 Introduction, 183
8.2 Risk Assessment Approaches for Drinking Water Regulations, 184
8.3 Risk Mandates from the Safe Drinking Water Act, 188
8.4 Developing MCLs and Treatment Techniques, 189
8.5 Future Outlook, 195
9 ‘‘Sound’’ Science and Drinking Water Regulation 197
Frederick W. Pontius
9.1 Introduction, 197
9.2 Elements of ‘‘Sound’’ Science, 198
9.3 Peer Involvement, 206
9.4 Scientific Disagreement, 209
9.5 ‘‘Junk’’ Science, 210
9.6 Causation and Causal Inference, 211
9.7 Science and SDWA Regulations, 214
9.8 Science and the Courts, 215
9.9 Future Developments and Trends, 221
10 Benefit–Cost Analysis and Drinking Water Regulation 225
Robert S. Raucher
10.1 Introduction, 225
10.2 Benefit–Cost Analysis (BCA) Under the SDWA, 226
10.3 Historical Application of BCA, 227
10.4 USEPA Policies and Practices, 228
10.5 Comparing Benefits to Costs, 229
10.6 Measures of Risk Reduction Benefits, 233
10.7 Benefits Transfer to Drinking Water, 238 and Income Growth, 241
10.8 Uncertainty and Variability, 242
10.9 Precautionary Assumptions versus Central Tendencies, 244
10.10 Omitted or Unquantified Benefits and Costs, 246
10.11 Uncertain Costs, 247
10.12 Future Outlook, 247
11 Public Involvement in Regulation Development 251
Frederick W. Pontius
11.1 Introduction, 251
11.2 Who is the Public?, 251
11.3 Objectives Determine Involvement Level, 252
11.4 Involvement during the Rulemaking Process, 253
11.5 Federal Agency Advisory Committees, 261
11.6 Regulatory Negotiation, 266
11.7 Judicial Review, 268
11.8 USEPA’s Public Involvement Policy, 269
11.9 The Future of Public Participation, 271
PART III CONTAMINANT REGULATION AND TREATMENT 275
12 Control of Drinking Water Pathogens and Disinfection Byproducts 277
Stig E. Regli, Paul S. Berger and Thomas R. Grubbs
12.1 Introduction, 277
12.2 Control of Waterborne Pathogens Before the 1970s, 277
12.3 Control of Waterborne Pathogens and DBPs in the 1970s, 280
12.4 Control of Waterborne Pathogens and DBPs in the 1980s, 284
12.5 Control of Waterborne Pathogens and DBPs in the 1990s and Beyond, 289
12.6 A View Toward the Future, 301
13 Regulating Radionuclides in Drinking Water 307
David R. Huber
13.1 Introduction, 307
13.2 Radiation Basics, 310
13.3 SDWA Requirements for Radionuclide Standards, 312
13.4 1976 Radionuclide Regulations, 314
13.5 1991 Proposed Radionuclides Rule, 317
13.6 1996 SDWA Amendments and Rule Revisions, 318
13.7 2000 Final Radionuclides Rule, 322
13.8 Future Outlook, 336
14 Risk-Based Framework for Future Regulatory Decision-Making 339
Mark Gibson and Mike Osinsiki
14.1 Introduction, 339
14.2 SDWA Amendments of 1996, 340
14.3 Role of Third-Party Consultations in Regulatory Development, 342
14.4 Role of USEPA Programs, 344
14.5 Development of the First CCL, 347
14.6 Public Health Decisions from the 1998 CCL, 349
14.7 Development of Future CCLs, 356
14.8 Illustration of a Prototype Classification Scheme, 368
14.9 Virulence Factor–Activity Relationships (VFARs), 375
14.10 NRC Recommendations and Future Directions, 376
15 Selection of Treatment Technology for SDWA Compliance 381
Frederick W. Pontius
15.1 Introduction, 381
15.2 SDWA Requirements Affecting Technology Selection, 381
15.3 Acceptance of New Technology, 385
15.4 Advanced Treatment Technology Overview, 386
15.5 Simultaneous Compliance, 395
15.6 Process Optimization, 396
15.7 Technology Selection, 396
16 SDWA Compliance Using Point-of-Use (POU) and Point-of-Entry (POE) Treatment 403
Frederick W. Pontius, Regu P. Regunathan and Joseph F. Harrison
16.1 Introduction, 403
16.2 POU and POE Technology Benefits, 404
16.3 POU and POE Technology Limitations, 405
16.4 SDWA Requirements for POU and POE Technology, 407
16.5 Certification Programs, 408
16.6 POU and POE Technology Overview, 411
16.7 Selecting POU and POE Technologies, 417
16.8 Installation and Maintenance, 420
16.9 Monitoring, 422
16.10 Implementation Issues and Strategies, 422
16.11 Future Outlook and Trends, 427
PART IV COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES 431
17 Death of the Silent Service: Meeting Consumer Expectations 433
Elisa M. Speranza
17.1 Introduction, 433
17.2 Who Are Water Utility Customers?, 433
17.3 Public Water Suppliers as a Monopoly, 436
17.4 Where Customers Obtain Information, 436
17.5 What Customers Think and Want, 437
17.6 Gaining Customer Support, 441
17.7 Communicating with Customers, 441
17.8 Benefits of Customer Communication, 446
18 Achieving the Capacity to Comply 449
Peter E. Shanaghan and Jennifer Bielanski
18.1 Introduction, 449
18.2 Water System Capacity, 450
18.3 Assessing Water System Capacity, 452
18.4 Enhancing System Capacity, 455
18.5 Future Outlook, 461
19 Achieving Sustainable Water Systems 463
Janice A. Beecher
19.1 Introduction, 463
19.2 Sustainable Systems, 464
19.3 Sustainability and the SDWA, 468
19.4 Affordability and Sustainability, 473
19.5 Pricing Theory, 477
19.6 Rate Design, 481
19.7 Future Trends in Achieving Sustainability, 487
20 Protecting Sensitive Subpopulations 491
Jeffrey K. Griffiths
20.1 Introduction, 491
20.2 Defining Sensitive Subpopulations, 491
20.3 Sensitive Subpopulations and the SDWA, 492
20.4 Identifying Sensitive Subpopulations, 493
20.5 What Makes a Person or Population Sensitive?, 495
20.6 Which Sensitive Subpopulations Are of Concern to Water Providers?, 505
20.7 Can or Should a Water Supplier Identify Who Belongs to a Sensitive Subpopulation?, 506
20.8 Nontransient and Transient Noncommunity Systems, 506
20.9 Public Health Concepts Relevant to Sensitive Subpopulations, 507
20.10 Future Outlook, 509
21 Environmental Justice and Drinking Water Regulation 513
Frederick W. Pontius
21.1 Introduction, 513
21.2 Environmental Justice as a Movement, 513
21.3 Identifying Environmental Justice Situations, 517
21.4 Environmental Justice and Contaminant Regulation, 526
21.5 Implications for Water Utilities, 528
21.6 Future Outlook, 529
22 What Water Suppliers Need to Know about Toxic Tort Litigation 533
Kenneth A. Rubin
22.1 Introduction, 533
22.2 Basics of Toxic Torts, 534
22.3 What Plaintiffs Must Prove, 538
22.4 Key Steps in Litigation, 543
22.5 Case Histories Involving Water Suppliers, 549
22.6 Future Outlook for Tort Litigation, 552
23 Intellectual Property Laws and Water Technology 555
Linda E. B. Hansen
23.1 Introduction, 555
23.2 Property, Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents, 555
23.3 Patent Laws, 556
23.4 Obtaining a Patent, 563
23.5 Patent Infringement, 564
23.6 Future Outlook in Intellectual Property Law, 566
24 Water System Security 567
Frederick W. Pontius
24.1 Introduction, 567
24.2 Threats to Public Water Systems, 568
24.3 SDWA Security Provisions, 570
24.4 Department of Homeland Security, 576
24.5 Future Outlook, 580
Appendixes
A Summary Tables of Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories 583
USEPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water and
USEPA Office of Science and Technology
B 1962 U.S. Public Health Service Standards 621
C Section-by-Section Summary of the SDWA 635
Frederick W. Pontius
D Text of the SDWA as Amended and Related Statutes 721
Compiled by Frederick W. Pontius
E How Our Laws are Made 871
Charles W. Johnson
F Enactment of a Law 923
Robert B. Dove
G Listing of Drinking Water Federal Register Notices 953
Compiled by Frederick W. Pontius, P.E.
H Outline of 40 CFR 141, 142, and 143 971
Compiled by Frederick W. Pontius
I Example Capacity Development Tool 979
South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources
J U.S. Water Industry Statistics 995
USEPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water
Index 1009
