During the early 1980s, concern over the poor quality of
the nation's drinking water began to arise. Though the Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA) had been passed almost a decade
earlier, many problems still existed. These problems included
the inability of the Environmental Protection Agency to
promulgate new drinking water standards and to enforce new and
existing standards. To address the shortcomings of the
original act, Congress passed the 1986 SDWA Amendments.
This document attempts to accomplish two main goals. The
first is to summarize selectively the requirements of the 1986
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments as reflected in
proposed and finalized drinking water regulations. The areas
of coverage include proposed regulations for eight inorganic
and thirty synthetic organic chemical contaminants, the
Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR), and the Total Coliform
Rule (TCR). In order to facilitate an understanding of the
SDWA and the 1986 Amendments, a sectional analysis was
provided in an appendix.
The second goal of this document is to assess the
economic impact of this legislation upon Virginia water
facilities. In this regard, the cost of water treatment
technologies whose use will likely increase as a result of the
legislation have been estimated, compiled, and documented.
These technologies include granular activated carbon (GAC);
reverse osmosis; ion exchange; and various aeration,
filtration, and disinfection technologies. Several case
studies that assess and highlight the direct impacts of the
1986 SDWA Amendments upon Virginia water facilities are
presented.
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