Reducing Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Violations by
Small Community Systems in Massachusetts

Michael James Maynard

The Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) and its Amendments of 1986 and 1996 were designed to protect the users of public water supplies from drinking water contamination. Strict enforcement of the regulations by state agencies has led nationally to a high incidence of violations amongst the small systems which serve less than 3,300 individual users. This study primarily reviewed the small systems in Massachusetts and attempted to identify variables that are associated with the violators. The study also included a comparison of violation rates in Massachusetts with the national rates, which are listed below. The violation rate is an attempt to attach a numeric value to each size category while accounting for the differences that exist between the systems. (M&R = Monitoring and Reporting; MCL = Maximum Contaminant Levels)

MCL violations from bacterial contamination appear to be disproportionately high in small systems nationally. The rate of small system violations is much lower in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, between January 1, 1993 - June 30, 1995 there were no MCL violations for anything other then Bacteria. This study also identified inefficiencies resulting from information exchange between DEP and the laboratories/Public Water Supplies by hard copy format. It was also determined that a number of the PWS are not adhering to the Certified Operator Training requirements that are outlined in the Massachusetts Regulations.

The recommendations were designed to address these findings:

• Enforce or modify current certified operator training requirements and establish a formal facility log book for each water supply.
• Promote cost savings and community outreach to systems by eliminating unnecessary testing, encouraging composite sampling and targeting community outreach.
• Expand the use of the Internet so that laboratories and PWS can file all necessary forms to DEP in an electronic format.