Taking enforcement action against violating small community water systems (SCWSs) can be a complete waste of time, which makes it clear that other approaches are needed to bring the thousands of such systems into compliance with their Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) obligations.
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That’s the main conclusion to draw from a report by EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) on violations of the nation’s more than 42,000 SCWSs. An “SCWS” is defined as one that serves 3,300 or fewer residents year-round. Collectively, SCWSs serve about 24 million people nationwide. In October 2011, the EPA classified 2,252 SCWSs as serious violators. These included 193 systems with Tier 1 violations.
Tier 1 violations are the most serious SDWA violations and can have a direct impact on the health of people consuming the water. Upon discovery of a Tier 1 violation, a system must notify customers within 24 hours. The types of Tier 1 violations noted in the OIG report include failure to maintain microbial treatment, exceedance of fecal coliform limits, or a positive test for contamination.