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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 96-70443
International Standard Book Number 0-309-05527-X
Safe Water From Every Tap: Improving Water Service to Small Communities is available from the National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055 (1-800-624-6242; http://www.nap.edu).
Cover art by Y. David Chung. Chung is a graduate of the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. He has exhibited his work throughout the country, including the Whitney Museum in New York, the Washington Project for the Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
COMMITTEE ON SMALL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
VERNON L. SNOEYINK, Chair,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
GUNTHER F. CRAUN,
Craun and Associates, Staunton, Virginia
STEPHEN E. HIMMELL,
Consumers Illinois Water Company, Kankakee, Illinois
CAROL R. JAMES,
C. R. James and Associates,
Consulting Engineers,
Oakland, California
DENNIS D. JURANEK,
National Center for Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, Georgia
GARY S. LOGSDON,
Black & Veatch, Cincinnati, Ohio
FREDERICK A. MARROCCO,
Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
JOHN M. MAXWELL,
Economic and Engineering Services, Olympia, Washington
DANIEL A. OKUN,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
DAVID R. SIBURG,
Kitsap Public Utility District, Poulsbo, Washington
VELMA M. SMITH,
Friends of the Earth, Washington, D.C.
AMY K. ZANDER,
Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York
Liaison from the Water Science and Technology Board
CAROLYN H. OLSEN,
Brown and Caldwell, Pleasant Hill, California
National Research Council Staff
JACQUELINE A. MACDONALD, Study Director
ETAN Z. GUMMERMAN, Research Associate
ANITA A. HALL, Senior Project Assistant
DAVID DOBBS, Editor
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD
DAVID L. FREYBERG, Chair,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
BRUCE E. RITTMANN, Vice Chair,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
LINDA M. ABRIOLA,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
PATRICK L. BREZONIK,
Water Resources Research Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
JOHN BRISCOE,
The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
WILLIAM M. EICHBAUM,
The World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.
WILFORD R. GARDNER,
University of California, Berkeley
THOMAS M. HELLMAN,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, New York, New York
CAROL A. JOHNSTON,
University of Minnesota, Duluth
WILLIAM M. LEWIS, JR.,
University of Colorado, Boulder
JOHN W. MORRIS,
J. W. Morris Ltd., Arlington, Virginia
CAROLYN H. OLSEN,
Brown and Caldwell, Pleasant Hill, California
CHARLES R. O'MELIA,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
REBECCA T. PARKIN,
American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
IGNACIO RODRIGUEZ-ITURBE,
Texas A&M University, College Station
FRANK W. SCHWARTZ,
Ohio State University, Columbus
HENRY J. VAUX, JR.,
University of California, Riverside
Staff
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Director
SHEILA D. DAVID, Senior Staff Officer
CHRIS ELFRING, Senior Staff Officer
JACQUELINE A. MACDONALD, Senior Staff Officer
GARY D. KRAUSS, Staff Officer
M. JEANNE AQUILINO, Administrative Associate
ETAN Z. GUMERMAN, Research Associate
ANGELA F. BRUBAKER, Research Assistant
ANITA A. HALL, Administrative Assistant
MARY BETH MORRIS, Senior Project Assistant (through July 1996)
ELLEN de GUZMAN, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chair,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
JAMES P. BRUCE,
Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Canada
WILLIAM L. FISHER,
University of Texas, Austin
JERRY F. FRANKLIN,
University of Washington, Seattle
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
DEBRA S. KNOPMAN,
Progressive Foundation, Washington, D.C.
PERRY L. MCCARTY,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
JUDITH E. MCDOWELL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
S. GEORGE PHILANDER,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario
THOMAS C. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park
ELLEN K. SILBERGELD,
Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
GREGORY H. SYMMES, Reports Officer
JAMES E. MALLORY, Administrative Officer
SANDRA S. FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
SUSAN E. SHERWIN, Project Assistant
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Preface
Small water supply systems are an important part of the drinking water industry in the United States. Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population is served by more than 54,000 systems, each serving 10,000 or fewer people, and approximately two-thirds of these systems serve communities with populations of 500 or fewer people. The numbers of such systems are increasing rapidly; for example, the number of water systems serving 500 or fewer people increased sevenfold, from 5,000 to more than 35,000, between 1963 and 1993. While many of these systems produce a safe, wholesome water supply, many others lack the capital needed to upgrade their facilities and the revenue needed for day-to-day operation and maintenance. Modification of these systems to meet new standards, and implementation of monitoring programs to ensure that water quality is adequate, are particularly troublesome for such communities. The problems are compounded by the fact that small water systems lack the economies of scale of larger systems. These problems are most acute for systems serving fewer than 500 people. These systems violate drinking water standards for microbes and chemicals more than twice as often as systems serving more than 10,000 people. Communities with 500 or fewer residents are thus more vulnerable than larger communities to outbreaks of waterborne disease.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the problems of small water supply systems and in 1994 asked the National Research Council (NRC) to study the problem. In response to this request, and with the sponsorship of the EPA, the NRC's Committee on Small Water Supply Systems was established. Its membership consisted of 12 experts in water treatment, utility management, finance, and public health. In this report, the committee proposes a
solution to the problem of providing safe drinking water to small communities that has three elements, each of which is equally important:
- providing affordable water treatment technologies,
- creating the institutional structure necessary to ensure the financial stability of the water systems, and
- improving programs to train small system operators in all aspects of water system maintenance and management.
The committee studied the problems of small water systems by inviting a large number of water industry representatives to address the committee in their areas of expertise. These included representatives from the EPA who were involved in developing regulations for small water supplies and in researching water treatment processes for small water supplies; representatives of state regulatory agencies, with emphasis on states that have implemented innovative approaches to managing small systems; manufacturers of equipment for small systems; a representative from a third-party testing organization that evaluates small systems equipment and point-of-entry/point-of-use devices; a representative from the Natural Resources Defense Council; and representatives of groups responsible for providing assistance to small communities. The report is based on a thorough review of the information presented by these individuals, information from the published literature, and the expertise of the committee members.
The successful preparation of this report was in large part dependent on the skills of Jackie MacDonald, NRC senior staff officer, who pressured and cajoled us into getting our sections of the report done in a timely fashion, contributed original written material for significant sections of the report, and thoroughly edited the entire report. Jackie's attention to detail, persistence, and organization were essential to the timely completion of this report. Jackie was ably assisted by Etan Gummerman, research associate, and Anita Hall, administrative assistant. David Dobbs, editor, made significant contributions to improving the clarity of several of the report chapters. Their important input is gratefully acknowledged. Also essential to the completion of this project was Stephen Clark, the committee's liaison from the EPA. His valuable insights and responsiveness to all of the committee's requests for information greatly facilitated the committee's work.
The efforts of the committee members in attending meetings, researching their subjects, writing and revising their contributions, and reviewing and revising the entire report are acknowledged and sincerely appreciated. I hope that the reader will agree with me that the committee has done its job very well.
VERNON L. SNOEYINK, Chair
Committee on Small Water Supply Systems