Drinking
Water
EDC has several
options for sampling
drinking water.
For example:
- A comprehensive
74 parameter
test can be
conducted.
- A coliform
bacteria - Ecoli
test can be
conducted for
well water.
The Safe Drinking Water Act of December 16, 1974 mandated the
establishment of drinking water regulations. The U.S. EPA was
authorized to set national drinking water regulations and oversee the
implementation of the SDWA. State governments through their health
departments or environmental agencies were to accept the responsibility
for the implementation and enforcement of the SDWA's provisions.
Most community water suppliers deliver high quality drinking
water to millions of Americans every day. Drinking water systems have
spent hundreds of billions of dollars to build drinking water treatment
and distribution systems. In addition, there is a network of government
agencies whose job it is to ensure that public water supplies are safe.
Nonetheless, microbiological and chemical contaminants enter water
supplies.
The EPA has issued drinking water standards or Maximum
Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for many water contaminants. The standards
limit the amount of each substance allowed to be present in drinking
water. Local governments, public water systems, the states and the EPA
work together towards a goal of ensuring that all public water supplies
are safe. But, it is generally up to the building owner to maintain the
quality of the drinking water.
Routinely sampling and analyzing the water being delivered to a
building from a public water system establishes a baseline from which
it can be reasonably assumed that similar water is being supplied to
the entire facility. In addition, sampling and analyzing water from
various drinking water sources within the building can yield
information regarding such contaminants as lead and copper that may
have been introduced to the water supply system within the building.
| Parameter | EPA MCLs |
| Aluminum | 0.05-0.2 mg/l |
| Antimony | 0.006 mg/l |
| Arsenic | 0.05 mg/l |
| Barium | 2.0 mg/l |
| Cadmium | 0.005 mg/l |
| Chloride | 250 mg/l |
| Chromium | 0.1 mg/l |
| Coliforms (Total) | <=5% positive |
| Coliforms (E. coli) | 0 |
| Copper | 1.0 mg/l |
| Cyanides | 0.2 mg/l |
| Fluorides | 2.0-4.0 mg/l |
| Iron | 0.3 mg/l |
| Lead | 15 ppb |
| Manganese | 0.05 mg/l |
| Mercury | 0.002 mg/l |
| Nickel | 0.1 mg/l |
| Nitrate/Nitrite (Total) | 10.0 mg/l |
| Nitrates | 10.0 mg/l |
| Nitrites | 1.0 mg/l |
| pH | 6.5-8.5 |
| Selenium | 0.05 mg/l |
| Silver | 0.1 mg/l |
| Solids, Total Dissolved | 500 mg/l |
| Sodium | 20 mg/l |
| Sulfate | 250 mg/l |
| Turbidity | 0.5-5 NTU |
| Zinc | 5 mg/l |
All values subject to change without notice.
