Water Quality Regs: Staying Ahead

After a century in which water utilities could stay well ahead of most regulations simply by being responsible, professional organizations, they now seem to be playing catchup in a game with a whole new set of rules. The regulations of the 1990s, an outgrowth of the Safe Drinking Water Act. (SDWA) Amendments of 1986, are a mix of scientific and technical guidance overlaid with social and political agendas. They call into question water quality goals and operational procedures developed over decades of successful treatment experience. The article describes 10 challenges utilities face--and seven steps to meet them successfully.