Reducing the Risks of Pathogens in Groundwater: The Groundwater Disinfection Rule

摘要

Ahighlight in environmental health protection in 2006 was , the promulgation of the EPA's Ground Water Rule (GWR), published in the Federal Register on November 8,2006. The rale is aimed at reducing risks of microbial disease in drinking water by targeting all systems that utilize ground-water sources (the source linked to 76 percent of the 183 waterborne disease outbreaks since 1991). Under the 1996 amendments of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA was required to promulgate regulations for disinfection of surface water and, as needed, ground-water supplies. Groundwater treatment, as needed, is expected to reduce water-borne illnesses due to viruses by more than 42,000 cases per year, This article is the second of two parts (see Part I in On Tap, WC&P, December 2006) reviewing the GWR1.