DRINKING WATER GUIDE: A RESOURCE FOR ADVOCATES Written by Chi Ho Sham & Carolyn Gillette, ERG, Jumana Vasi, JVasi Consulting, and Katherine Baer & Paco Ollervides, River Network (2019) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The following Drinking Water Advisory Committee members guided the INTRODUCTION development of this Guide and we are grateful for their expertise and time: Sheyda Esnaashari, Alliance for the Great Lakes This report was also strengthened by review and input from SECTION 1 the following: Oluwole McFoy, Buffalo Water Adam Carpenter, American Water Works Association SECTION 2 Lynn Thorp, Clean Water Action Katie Rousseau, American Rivers Juani Olivares, Genesee County Hispanic and Latino SECTION 3 Collaborative Amanda Monaco, California Environmental Justice Network Laura Rubin, Huron River Watershed Council Tom Neltner, Environmental Defense Fund SECTION 4 Justin Nickels, Mayor, City of Manitowoc, WI Kristen Meyer, Freshwater Society James Clift, Michigan Environmental Council Stacey Isaac Berahzer, IB Environmental SECTION 5 Irene Folstrom, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Satya Rhodes-Conway, Mayors Innovation Project SECTION 6 Oday Salim, National Wildlife Federation Kristy Meyer, Ohio Environmental Council Zoë Roller, US Water Alliance Diana Toledo & April Ingle, River Network HOME David Reckhow, University of Massachusetts Caroline Koch, WaterNow Alliance Monica Lewis-Patrick, We the People of Detroit Angie Rosser, West Virginia Rivers Coalition PREVIOUS NEXT This project is made possible by funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 2 ACRONYMS AWWA – American Water Works Association PFAS – Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances CCL – Candidate Contaminant List PWS – Public Water System CCR – Consumer Confidence Report PWSS – Public Water System Supervision CWS – Community Water System PVC – Polyvinyl Chloride DWSRF – Drinking Water State Revolving Fund RCRA – Resource Recovery and Conservation Act EPA – Environmental Protection Agency SDWA – Safe Drinking Water Act GAC – Granulated Activated Carbon SDWIS – Safe Drinking Water Information System MCL – Maximum Contaminant Level SMCL – Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level INTRODUCTION MCLG - Maximum Contaminant Level Goal SWAP – Source Water Assessment Program MRDL – Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level TT – Treatment Technique SECTION 1 MRDLG – Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal TNCWS – Transient Non-community Water System SECTION 2 NPDWR – National Primary Drinking Water Regulations UCMR – Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule NSDWR – National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations WQS – Water Quality Standard SECTION 3 NTNCWS - Non-Transient Non-Community Water System SECTION 4 SECTION 5 SECTION 6 HOME PREVIOUS NEXT 3 DRINKING WATER GUIDE – TABLE OF CONTENTS CASE STUDIES & TEXT BOXES Management and Oversight of Drinking Water Systems 18 COMPONENTS OF A DRINKING WATER SYSTEM 19 Introduction 6 Source Water 19 BACKGROUND 6 Water Treatment 20 CONTEXT 6 Water Storage 23 Water Equity and Justice 7 Case Study – Installing Advanced Treatment to Address PFAs The Human Right To Water 7 Contamination 23 GUIDE OVERVIEW 8 Point of Entry and Point of Use Treatment Devices 23 RESOURCES 8 Water Distribution 25 REFERENCES 9 Regulatory Compliance Responsibilities 26 Lead Service Line Replacement Section One – Where Does Our Drinking Water Come From 26 And How Can We Protect It? 10 Case Study – Community Engagement in Flint, Michigan 26 INTRODUCTION Case Study – Water Management Failures in Flint, Michigan 27 BACKGROUND 10 QUESTIONS TO ASK 29 SOURCES OF DRINKING WATER 10 SECTION 1 RESOURCES 29 Sources for Public Water Systems 10 REFERENCES 30 Case Study – Source Water Protection through Land SECTION 2 Protection - Seattle 10 Section Three – What Frameworks Are In Place To Make Identifying Your Drinking Water Source 11 Sure Our Water Is Safe To Drink? 31 SECTION 3 Private Wells 11 BACKGROUND 31 Case Study – Source Water Protection through Land HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF THE SAFE WATER DRINKING ACT 31 Protection - Massachuesetts 11 Federal, State, and Tribal Responsibilities 32 SECTION 4 Protecting Source Water 12 Drinking Water Protection Beyond the Safe Drinking Water Act 33 Monitoring and Managing Private Well Water Quality 12 EPA’s Regulation of Lead in Drinking Water 33 SECTION 5 Source Water Collaborative 12 The Process for Establishing National Primary Drinking Case Study – From Crisis to Action: Citizen Action for Source Water Water Regulations 34 Protection 13 SECTION 6 Federal Public Comment Opportunities 35 Case Study – Harmful Algal Outbreaks Threaten Drinking Water 14 Public Participation in the Regulatory Process 36 Case Study – Source Water Protection through Land Examples of Drinking Water Standards 36 HOME Protection - San Antonio 14 Groundwater Contamination by PFAS 15 Regulated Contaminants 37 QUESTIONS TO ASK 16 Secondary Contaminants 38 PREVIOUS Case study – Paying for Source Water Protection 16 THE ROLE OF EPA 38 RESOURCES 16 State Drinking Water Standards 38 NEXT Case Study – Providing input to rulemaking at the State level 38 Section Two – What Does My Drinking Water System Do? 17 THE ROLE OF STATE REGULATORS 39 BACKGROUND 17 Public Water System Supervision Programs 39 TYPES OF WATER SYSTEMS 17 Safe Drinking Water Act Compliance and Enforcement 39 4 Source Water Protection and Undground Injection Control 40 IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 53 Capacity Development and Operator Certification 40 Extreme Weather 53 QUESTIONS TO ASK 41 Rising Temperatures 54 RESOURCES 41 Extreme Weather Affects Drinking Water Supplies 54 REFERENCES 42 Rising Temperatures and Water Supply and Demand 54 Drought 55 Section Four – What Is My Water Bill Paying For? 43 Drought on Drinking Water 55 BACKGROUND 43 Wildfires 56 COST OF DELIVERING POTABLE WATER 43 RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION PLANNING 56 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs 44 Water Availability and Resilience and Adaptation Opportunities 56 What You’re Paying For 44 Wildfires and Drinking Water Impacts 56 Grading America’s Infrastructure 44 Defining Water Conservation and Water Efficiency 57 Paying for Water Infrastructure 45 FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS 58 INTRODUCTION Reducing Water Loss 45 QUESTIONS TO ASK 58 Federal and State Funding for Drinking Water 46 RESOURCES 58 SECTION 1 WATER RATE DESIGN 47 REFERENCES 59 Setting Water Rates 47 SECTION 2 Equitable Infrastructure Investment 47 Section Six – Community Action And Advocacy: How Can I Help My Community Assess And Improve Its Access To Safe, CONSIDERATIONS FOR WATER AFFORDABILITY 48 Clean And Affordable Drinking Water 60 Measuring Water Affordability 48 SECTION 3 BACKGROUND 60 Mapping the Impact of Water Shutoffs in Detroit 48 WATER EQUITY AND JUSTICE 60 Approaches to Improving Water Affordability 49 SECTION 4 Key Definitions Why is my Water Bill Going Up? 49 60 Vulnerable Groups and Populations Addressing the Risks of Shut-Offs 50 61 SECTION 5 The American Water Works Association’s 2018 Policy Statement of The “Social Vulnerability Index” 61 Affordability 50 COMMUNITY QUESTIONS ABOUT DRINKING WATER 62 QUESTIONS TO ASK 51 Tips for Communicating in an Emergeny SECTION 6 66 Making the Business Case for Affordability 51 Case Study – Alliance for the Great Lakes on Affordability 72 RESOURCES 51 Tips for Making Public Comments 74 HOME REFERENCES 52 Impacts of Lack of Access to Drinking Water 75 Affordable Water 75 Section Five – How Will Climate Change Affect My Water PREVIOUS And What Can I Do About It? 53 RESOURCES 79 BACKGROUND 53 REFERENCES 80 NEXT 5 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION River Network, a national organization that empowers Communities across the country have faced similar and unites people and communities to protect and drinking water crises, which have led to a cascade of SECTION 1 restore rivers and other waters that sustain all life, has public health, economic, and social consequences. developed this drinking water guide to serve as a In West Virginia, a 2015 chemical spill shut down the resource for individuals and organizations seeking drinking water for 300,000 residents in the Charleston SECTION 2 to engage on drinking water safety, sustainability area, and fluorinated industrial chemicals (PFAS) and access at the local, state or national level. River are showing up in drinking water sources from North Network developed this resource as the first step Carolina to Michigan to California. SECTION 3 in fulfilling a need for systems to educate, train and support environmental and community leaders in Access to drinking water is also an issue in places such as California’s Central Valley where wells have gone dry SECTION 4 understanding drinking water. and for families whose water is shut off when they can This Guide could not have been completed without the no longer afford to pay their bills. Water affordability SECTION 5 assistance of our Advisory Committee as well as many and water shutoffs are recognized as serious issues reviewers and participants in our peer call outreach that communities must address to ensure that series, all of whom helped to improve this Guide and no one is denied access to an essential amount SECTION 6 provided insights we otherwise would have missed. We of water. Additionally, certain vulnerable groups are grateful and look forward to continued input. or populations, such as the young, elderly, racial and ethnic minorities and families living in poverty HOME CONTEXT are more likely to lack secure access to water and In 2013 and 2014, two communities in Ohio (Carroll sanitation services and are at higher risk during natural Township and