According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), nearly 77 million people in the United States were served by water systems with violations of the Safe Water Drinking Act. This post from the NRDC states directly in its very first sentence: “America has a drinking water crisis.” That was written in response to a study conducted by the organization that found more than 80,000 reported violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act by community water systems in 2015.
The Safe Drinking Water Act is a law established in 1974 that protects drinking water supplies throughout the nation. The NRDC analysis found violations of this law across the country in every state—with the most offenses coming from Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia.
In this Water Quality Products article, Erik Olson, NRDC health program director, notes two key challenges America is facing when it comes to maintaining safe drinking water:
“The problem is two-fold: there’s no cop on the beat enforcing our drinking water laws, and we’re living on borrowed time with our ancient, deteriorating water infrastructure. We take it for granted that when we turn on our kitchen tap, the water will be safe and healthy, but we have a long way to go before that is reality across our country.”
Report finds tap water contaminants in every state
