Defining Public Water Systems

摘要

Public water sys-tems in the United States are regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). How a public water system (PWS) is defined is central to delineating the scope of many SDWA provisions. Before passage of the 1996 amendments, the SDWA defined the term "public water system" to include only piped water systems. The amendments broadened that definition to include systems providing water for human consumption through "constructed conveyances," such as irrigation canals.