WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 -- The U.S. EPA has made improvements to the availability and usability of drinking water data in the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) tool. The public can now search ECHO to see whether drinking water in their community met the standards required under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
SDWA requires states to report drinking water information periodically to EPA.
ECHO also includes a new feature identifying drinking water systems that have had serious noncompliance.
"Today's improvements to EPA's ECHO tool support President Obama's directive to make it easier for the public to search for and use the information we collect," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Improved access to information about our nation's drinking water is critical for communities, nonprofit organizations, public water suppliers, regulators and industry that all have a stake in ensuring the water in our communities is safe and healthy to drink."
The new Safe Drinking Water Act information on EPA's website provides users with information about whether their drinking water has exceeded drinking water standards. It also provides a serious violators report that lists all water suppliers with serious noncompliance. And finally, it makes available EPA's 2009 National Public Water Systems Compliance Report, which is a national summary of compliance and enforcement at public drinking water systems.
To access the tool, visit: http://www.epa-echo.gov/echo/compliance_report_sdwa.html
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