October 8, 2008—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently signed an agreement seen as a roadmap to strengthen safeguards against harmful bacteria in public water distribution lines and to ensure America’s water remains “among the safest in the world.”
EPA’s Total Coliform Rule/Distribution System Advisory Committee (TCRDSAC) signed the agreement in principle that recommends revisions to the 1989 Total Coliform Rule (TCR), as well as research and information collection needed to better understand potential public health impacts from conditions in the distribution system and control microbial drinking water contamination.
The revisions will require systems with positive total coliform E. coli monitoring results to assess whether a sanitary defect is present and to correct defects found. The committee believes that the recommendations will improve public health protection by providing a more proactive approach to identifying and reducing problems that could lead to drinking water contamination.
