Drinking Water

Consumers Often Not Well-informed of Potentially Serious Violations Gao ID: RCED-92-135 June 25, 1992

In recent years, health and environmental officials have become increasingly concerned about the possible long-term health effects of man-made chemical contaminants found in drinking water, some of which have been linked to cancer and birth defects. On the basis of its review of 28 water systems in six states, GAO found that water system operators often fail to notify their customers--as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974--when their systems fail to meet drinking water standards. Overall, the water systems issued timely notices for only 17 of 157 violations, many of which involved serious long-term health risks. Although limited state enforcement has contributed to the problem, a major reason for noncompliance is the notification regulations themselves, which many system operators find hard to understand and implement. Even if total compliance could be achieved, other problems make the notification process less effective than it should be in notifying the public of drinking water problems. For example, notices are often unclear about the health risks associated with a violation and the preventive measures to be taken. GAO also concludes that the public notification process would be more effective in informing the public--and easier for water systems to implement--if it focused more on serious violations.

GAO found that: (1) water system operators notified the public of only 58 of the 157 act violations that GAO identified and complied with the act's timeliness requirement in only 17 of those instances; (2) 103 of the remaining 140 violations posed serious long-term health risks; (3) limited involvement, oversight, and enforcement of public notification regulations by states and EPA contribute to noncompliance by water system operators; (4) difficulty in understanding and implementing public notification regulations by water system operators leads to further noncompliance; (5) public notices of violations often include confusing technical language and omit pertinent preventive measures; and (6) focusing on more serious violations provides water system operators with a cost-effective opportunity for greater compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.

Recommendations

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