Safe Water From Every Tap Improving Water Service to Small Communities (1997) / Chapter Skim
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2: Status of Small Water Systems
2: Status of Small Water Systems
Pages 24-47
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From page 24... ...
This chapter discusses the financial status of small communities, their track record in meeting requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) , and their ability to pay for needed improvements to water treatment systems and infrastructures.
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From page 25... ...
The private developers who build these new communities may purposefully avoid acquiring water service from the central city in order to save on development costs. The water purveyor is initially the developer, but once the development is complete, responsibility shifts to a homeowners' association, which may be poorly equipped to manage water service.
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From page 26... ...
, an inves tor-owned water utility using a major surface water source and serving the nearby larger communities of Kankakee, Bradley, and Bourbonnias (combined population of approximately 60,000) , worked together to extend a 12-in.-diameter main ap proximately 2 miles from the main CIWC system to the Aroma Park system.
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From page 27... ...
While Washington has been a leader in promoting comprehensive plan ning and the concept of water service areas with sole providers, there has been a proliferation of small systems over the past ten years, not only in the rural areas but even more so in the suburban areas and urban fringes. Kitsap County is one example of a highly populated area where the number of small water supply systems has increased in recent years.
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From page 28... ...
The water system ceased all water quality monitoring at this time, claiming lack of financial resources. The utility claimed it would also be unable to afford installation of a filtration system, which is now required for all water systems using surface water sources.
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An estimated 403,000 Milwaukee residents contracted cryptosporidiosis (severe, prolonged diarrhea caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium) via the city's drinking water supply (MacKenzie et al., 1994)
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From page 30... ...
However, finding coliform bacteria in a drinking water system indicates pos sible fecal contamination due to inadequate water treatment or deficiencies in the distribution system. In 1977, the EPA issued regulations for total coliforms in drinking water, estab lishing an MCL based on coliform density, monitoring requirements, and analytical method used (EPA, 1976)
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From page 31... ...
Table 2-2 shows violations by individual contaminant for systems using ground water as a water source; Table 2-3 shows violations for systems using surface water; and Table 2-4 summarizes the data from these tables and shows the percentage of systems in violation for various sizes of water systems. As documented in Table 2-4, the likelihood that a water system will violate chemical MCLs is a function of the size of the system.
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From page 32... ...
of the small ground water systems with violations. Table 2-3 shows that for small systems using surface water, the leading chemical contamination problem is atrazine.
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Also, contaminants for which regulations did not yet apply to small systems during the period covered by this table are excluded from the list. SOURCE: Federal Reporting Data System (data summaries provided by Jeff Sexton, EPA)
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From page 34... ...
. TABLE 2-4 Violations of Drinking Water Standards for Chemical Contaminants by Size of Water System: Summary Data for the Period October 1, 1992, to December 31, 1994 Size of Population Served by Water System 500 and 10,001 Source of Water Under 501–3,300 3,301–10,000 and Over Ground water 512 119 15 5 Surface water 19 43 10 10 Total number of systems 531 162 25 15 with violations Percentage of systems with violations 1.5 1.1 0.61 0.44 SOURCE: Tables 2-2 and 2-3.
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From page 35... ...
Thus, while small systems, on average, violate the chemical standards for drinking water more frequently than larger systems, from the monitoring data available the range of contaminants affecting these systems appears fairly narrow. HEALTH RISKS OF INADEQUATE DRINKING WATER TREATMENT What are the health risks of failing to comply with SDWA regulations?
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From page 36... ...
Recognition and investigation of possible outbreaks depend on factors such as physician interest, consumer awareness, extent of local health department surveillance activities, and aggressiveness of health
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STATUS OF SMALL WATER SYSTEMS 37 FPO departments and water regulatory agencies in investigating possible outbreaks. SOURCE: Complied from CDC and EPA data in CDC, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982a,b, 1983, 1984, 1985; St.
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As shown in the table, the pathogen causing the illness is unidentified for more than half of the outbreaks. Table 2-6 shows incidents of acute chemical poisoning caused by drinking water contamination between 1971 and 1994.
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From page 39... ...
TABLE 2-7 Causes of Waterborne Outbreaks of Acute Chemical Illness in the United States, 1971–1994 Cause of Outbreak Type of Ground Distribution Water Water Treatment or Storage Unidentified System Contamination Deficiencies Deficiencies Deficiencies Community 4 7 29 2 Noncommunity 1 4 3 1 Individual 12 1 5 2 All systems 17 12 37 5 SOURCE: Compiled from CDC and EPA data in CDC, 1973, 1974, 1976a,b, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982a,b, 1983, 1984, 1985; St. Louis, 1988; Levine et al., 1990; Herwaldt et al., 1991; Moore et al., 1993; Kramer et al., 1996a,b.
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From page 40... ...
As a consequence, waterborne disease outbreaks may have occurred in these states without being recognized and investigated by state officials. • Even where adequate disease surveillance systems are in place, health officials may not recognize small outbreaks or recognize that water is the route of disease transmission for endemic diseases.
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From page 41... ...
ADEQUACY OF WATER TREATMENT AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS IN SMALL COMMUNITIES Public health officials have long advocated a "multiple barrier" approach to disease prevention, and drinking water treatment and distribution systems are key components of this approach. The multiple barriers to waterborne disease include • selection of the purest sources of water; • protection of both ground and surface water sources from municipal, agricultural, and industrial pollution; • appropriate treatment of drinking water; • effective operation and monitoring of drinking water treatment facilities; and • prevention of contamination during the storage and distribution of treated water.
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From page 42... ...
Improving deteriorating or inadequate water treatment and distribution facilities is the responsibility of local authorities, whether village, town, city, or county governments, or, in the case of private developments, the owner of the development. Many small communities lack the resources to initiate, let alone carry out, the steps necessary to upgrade their water service and would be obliged to call on the state for assistance even when only a simple treatment technology is required.
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From page 43... ...
In time, the smaller community may be absorbed into the service area of the larger one. Complexity of Improving Water Service Regardless of who owns the water system, improving or providing new water supply service requires a series of complex steps.
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From page 44... ...
Small communities face special problems in supplying high-quality drinking water because many of them cannot afford the technologies or trained personnel needed to meet federal drinking water standards. As the population continues to increase and sources of clean water become harder to find, the safeguards provided by properly operated, modern water treatment technologies
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From page 45... ...
These small systems could benefit from technical assistance from state water supply regulators, but state agencies generally lack the resources to provide the detailed assistance that would most benefit small systems. • Failure to provide adequate water treatment and to comply with drinking water standards leaves small communities vulnerable to outbreaks of waterborne illnesses.
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From page 46... ...
1996. Cryptosporidiosis: an outbreak associated with drinking water despite state-of-the art water treatment.
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From page 47... ...
1991. A randomized trial to evaluate the risk of gastrointestinal disease due to consumption of drinking water meeting current microbiological standards.
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