Evaluations of the costs and benefits of US drinking
water standards typically consider only a single
contaminant or class of contaminants. However,
the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is in
the process of formulating and implementing multiple
new regulations, and drinking water systems will be
expected to comply with all of them simultaneously.
The joint effects of different regulations are not necessarily
the sum of the effects of the individual regulations.
In some cases, treating for one contaminant may
remove other contaminants. In other instances, treating
for one contaminant (e.g., pathogens) may make it
more difficult to comply with regulations for other
contaminants (e.g., disinfection byproducts).
A simulation model was developed to assess the
national costs and benefits of compliance with multiple
drinking water standards. For each of the approximately
55,000 US community water systems, concentrations
of raw water constituents, treatment type,
and removal efficiencies were sampled from statistical
models and used to compute finished water
concentrations.
Modeling the effects of different regulations at the
same time and using the same modeling assumptions
allowed the cost-effectiveness of alternative regulations
to be compared on an equal basis. For example, this
study found that the revised arsenic maximum contaminant
level (MCL) is more cost-effective than the uranium
MCL at reducing cancer risk.
By facilitating more direct comparison of the cost-effectiveness
of different regulations, an integrated
model can help utilities prioritize their regulatory
options. In addition, a better understanding of the joint
effects of different regulations may help USEPA and
other stakeholders to design more effective overall
regulatory programs. Includes 55 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 96 - No. 3 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 430 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 13 |
| Published : | 03/01/2004 |
