Safe Drinking Water Act Of 1974

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to establish the concentrations of contaminants that are permitted in public drinking-water systems. A public water system is defined by EPA as a “system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least fifteen service connections or regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals” (63 Fed. Reg. 41940 [1998]). Section 1412 of the act, as amended in 1986, requires EPA to publish maximum-contaminant-level goals (MCLGs) and promulgate national primary drinking-water regulations (maximum contaminant levels [MCLs]) for contaminants in drinking water that might cause

In order to have a thriving and healthy society a clean water supply is a very simple but necessary resource. Dating back to the beginning of civilizations the need for clean water was an essential need. The Clean Water Act dates to Franklin D Roosevelt’s administration. In 1972 Congress amended and passed what is now known as the Clean Water Act to protect our precious resource of water. The clean water Act prevented the dumping of pollutants into navigable waters without a permit. Many municipalities and commercial entities had previously dumped sewage and unregulated waste in to our rivers and streams contaminating a great percentage of our drinking water. This wreck less contamination of our waterways not only affected humans but also affected our wildlife including fish and animal’s life that depended on these waters. Any municipality or company that could affect our waters would need to apply for a permit to do so. While the Clean Water Act was a landmark legislation that was supported by both Democrats and Republicans alike over the years has seen expansion of the EPA’s interpretation of the law and has created a controversy in Administrative Law that has many challenges up to the Unites States Supreme Court. (Television, n.d.)

There are three main mechanisms by which the chemical composition of groundwater, which is our natural source of drinking water, may be changed: by natural processes, by man's waste-disposal practices such as those for sanitary wastes, liquid industrial wastes, solid wastes, and radioactive wastes, and by spills, leaks, and agricultural activities and other sources unrelated to disposal. The degree of risk posed by contaminants varies according to many factors. These include the volume and toxicity of the contaminant, its concentration in the aquifer, its persistence in the environment, and the degree of human and environmental exposure to the contaminant. In addition, the number of persons affected, or likely to be affected, over time and the percentage of available groundwater both locally and regionally should be taken into consideration. If the contaminants in the groundwater exceed the standards set for drinking water by the federal government, for example, then the water is hazardous for the use for which it was designated under the standards. These standards include, however, only a limited number of chemicals, and thus they do not necessarily protect humans or the environment against either the short-term or the long-term effects of every contaminant that might be found in

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) (P.L. 80-845, 62 Stat. 1155) of 1948 was the first major law enacted by Congress to address the problems of water pollution in the United States (n.d). Legislators created over 100 bills in an attempt to pass legislation over the previous half century, but were not successful. Industrial and urban growth caused by World War II in 1948, led to obvious, notorious pollution of the country's rivers, streams, and lakes, urging Congress to finally address the issue. Unfortunately, the act was not designed well enough to achieve the goals set out to address the issue. It did not ban pollution, only gave limited power to the federal government, and provided an extremely awkward enforcement mechanism. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was not successful in preventing and reducing water pollution. Pollution continued to increase because of the federal government's inability to require any direct reduction in discharges. As a result, the quality of the nation's waters had no improvement. On the other hand, the act established a popular and political support for pollution control efforts. Congress rewrote the act in 1972 to provide more acceptable protection for the nation's waters. It also established the basic agenda for water pollution control, which was amended by Congress afterwards. Congress made changes to the act six times before rewriting it in 1972.

Hydraulic fracking is putting a pressurized mixture of water, sand, and chemicals deep into the Earth to release oil and other gas. Not only does hydraulic fracking use enough water annually to supply five million people a year, but it some environmentalist believe it may contaminate the water (Dechert, 2015). In 2016, The State Senate committee in Florida turned down a bill to regulate hydraulic fracking even though nearly eight counties and cities either ban or opposes this new technique (Alvarez, 2016). Haliburton Co. is regulating themselves by setting a goal to use twenty-five percent less water for hydraulic fracking by the end of 2014. Some also believe that hydraulic fracking is not harming the water supply and is actually decreasing the amount of water used to sustain an oil driven society (Fracking Does Not, 2015). According to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2015, there are no “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States” (Fractured Thinking, 2016). No matter the case, city officials and corporations are going to have to work together to reduce the amount of contaminated water in this

Fracking is the process where pressurized water is injected into shale beds, or layers of sedimentary rock, which opens the rock to release oil and natural gas. Fracking is dangerous for many reasons, but one of the strongest affects it has is on our drinking water. Anywhere from 2 to 8 million gallons of water are used to frack only one well. Shockingly, just 10 percent of the water used returns to the surface. However, water isn’t the only thing being put in the ground- a “toxic stew” of chemicals and sand are also added. Over 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used every time we frack. The chemicals in the fracking mixture can make its way to our groundwater, harming the

In addition to this, the water mixtures used in fracking contain an average of "200 000 litres of acids, biocides, scale inhibitors, friction reducers and surfactants... many of which are toxic, carcinogenic or mutagenic." (Howarth et al. 2013 pp. 272). Moreover, there are concerns about the release of heavy metals, hydrocarbons and natural salts which are trapped in shale. There have been concerns about these chemicals contaminating drinking water. This can occur via the leaking of fracking fluids or gas into ground-water or streams, blowouts or leaky wellheads (Jackson et al. 2014 pp. 337-338). These concerns also affect the environment, with risks of damage to ecosystems. In the US, the 'Halliburton Loophole ' has been particularly controversial, as it allows companies to bypass the Safe Drinking Water Act and not disclose possible contaminants used in fracking (Howarth et al. 2013 pp.272). Finally, fracking water cannot be reused in fracking or elsewhere due to the contaminants present (De Avila 2015).

Before water is allowed to run into home pipelines, it has to go through several steps, and they are: physical, chemical, biological, and radiological because any tap water from source systems can be contaminated. The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 describes contaminants as “Some drinking water contaminants may be harmful if consumed at certain levels in drinking water while others may be harmless” (Health reference series) . The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is defined as the federal law that protects public drinking water supplies throughout the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is what sets the regulations for what goes into the water for better quality. In other words, people need to know where their water comes from and whether or not it is safe to drink. The EPA tests the water to check if the sodium hypochlorite, calcium, magnesium, and pH level is equivalent to the federal rule of drinking water. For instance, if those methods of treating the water is not handled properly, the water could be corrosive and could damage the water pipes with lead or copper, which would end up in the drinking water and would not be safe for human consumption. The Flint water department did not properly treat its water when the switch from Lake Huron to the Flint River

on asserted that he was “not a crook. I’ve earned everything I got.” With the

The Clean Water Act (CWA) was created in response the rapid loss of clean water. The government wanted to restore and preserve the water, as much of it was no longer useable for consumption or recreational use. A lot of this was due to agricultural runoff which lead to a surplus of phosphorus and nitrogen in many waters. (Tim Martins)

During 2014, the state appointed administration plan to spare cash and change the water source that had a half century association with the Detroit water and sewage Department. While waiting for a new pipeline, thousands of children were exposed to high level of lead due to corrosion of metal pipes that carries water to nearby communities. The community started to begin to worried about the a and smell of the water, some even stated that they even have skin rashes, which indicated that some form of Bacteria is in the water which, consequential unsafe Drinking Water Act violations.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) founds the elementary structure for regulating releases of contaminants into the water bodies of the US and also for surface waters it regulates quality standards. The origin of the CWA was passed in 1948 and was named the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, then the Act was suggestively reorganized and prolonged in 1972. as "Clean Water Act" this became the Act 's communal name after amendments in 1972.Further down to CWA, EPA has applied other pollution control agendas such as for industry, the setting wastewater standards. We similarly have set some water quality standards for all pollutants in surface waters.

The main pathway to water contamination occurs when these wastewaters are improperly disposed of or poorly managed. These waters contain fracturing fluids and natural occurring contaminations (Moss et.al. 2013:4). The method of disposing of the water and brine extracted from the shale has the potential to affect the water quality of lakes, rivers, and streams; damage public water supplies; and overwhelm public wastewater treatment plants (APHA 2012:4). It is also possible that if spills or accidents occur the runoff will leak into the water supply, which would affect the drinking water quality.

Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act was formulated with the goals of putting the end to the discharging of high quantities of contaminated materials into water resources, and further prevent pollution of water , and making sure that surface waters met the standards needed to support human and agricultural usage. Essentially, the Clean Water Act stipulates the fundamental structure used in the regulation of discharges of toxic pollutants into water resources of the US and ensuring conformance of quality standards for groundwater (Environmental Protection Agency). The Clean Water Act was draws based on the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, which was later developed and revised in 1972 to the Clean Water Act. Under the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to implement programs to control pollution example being the establishment of standards for wastewater discharge for various industries. In addition, the CWA establishes the water quality standards applicable to all groundwater contaminants. The Clean Water Act makes it illegal to unload any contaminant material from a point source into navigable water bodies without acquiring permit from EPA. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program, under the EPA, helps in controlling discharges (Environmental Protection

There primary function of Clean Water Act is to devise the fundamental structure to control expulsion of polluted material into the U.S waters and implementing quality principles for surface water. In the light of this Act, several pollution control programs have been implemented by Environmental Protection Agency comprising developing standards against water wastage for manufacturing firms (Stern & Kollikkathara, 2008). It has also defined principles interrelated to quality of water for all pollutants in surface water. Clean Water Act states, it’s illegal to dispose off any contaminant from any point source into negotiable water without any legal authorization.