Approximately half of the waterborne disease outbreaks
documented annually in the United States are
caused by contaminated groundwater. In 2006, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency promulgated the
final Ground Water Rule to reduce the risk of exposure
to fecal contamination that may be present in community
and noncommunity public groundwater systems.
In most states, private drinking water systems are not
regulated by local health and environmental agencies.
The goal of the study presented in this article was to
assess the microbial, physical, and chemical quality of
groundwater in individual wells and small public water
systems in Arizona, and it was the first such study in an
arid region of the United States. Of the well sites sampled,
43% of the systems were positive for total coliforms,
16% for fecal coliforms, and 4% for Escherichia
coli. In addition, 95% of systems exceeded at least
one primary and/or secondary drinking water standard,
suggesting that better guidance is needed to ensure the
water quality of these systems. Includes 57 references, tables.
| Edition : | Vol. 101 - No. 9 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 350 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 12 |
| Published : | 09/01/2009 |
