Question

Question #3 –Water Safety (25 points)

You are working for the Environmental Protection Agency in their California Regional Office of

Water Quality. You have been getting calls from several members of a community in Southern

California that are concerned about health problems in their community that they think are

related to contaminants in their drinking water. Since they are on a public water system, they

would like for you to come to their community and talk about who is responsible for making sure

drinking water is safe, what regulations or standards are in place to ensure its safety as well as

how water is treated to make sure it’s not contaminated. They also want to know if there is an

example of a case where a community in the United States got sick from drinking contaminated

water since several of their community members have come down with severe diarrhea and

dehydration. You agree to come to their community and talk with them about these issues.

Describe what you would tell them at the community meeting

Answer 1

Who is responsible for making the drinking water safe in the state of California?

Answer - California department of public health (CDPH)

What regulations are in place to ensure their safety?

California Safe drinking water act.

This act declares:

1. Pure drinking water is the right of every citizen of California.
2. Water purification technologies are available.
3. 95% of all the public water systems have all the various contaminants under the permissible limit
4. The state takes responsibility for delivering safe water.
5. All public water system will be drinkable at all times
6. to improve laws to ensure the safety of drinking water.
7. To establish a water regulatory program to provide efficient delivery of water. To emphasis on establishing drinking water standards.

How water is treated to make sure it is not contaminated?

The following treatments are done to decontaminate drinking water

1. Filtration
2. Fluorination
3. Disinfection
4. Arsenic removal technologies like adsorptive media
5. Membrane filtration
6. Biological treatment for perchlorate and nitrates

Examples of a community that fell sick after drinking contaminated water in America?

42 drinking water-associated outbreaks were reported in 2013-14. Legionella, toxins, giardiasis, cryptosporidium and algal toxin were responsible for these outbreaks.