WASHINGTON, DC, April 7, 2015 -- Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) dashboard, a user-friendly website that presents data about violations and the compliance status of public water systems. The dashboard contains interactive charts and graphs that provide information regarding the compliance of public water systems with federal drinking water regulations, as well as enforcement actions.
The SDWA dashboard is connected to EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website, which allows users to assess the compliance status of regulated facilities in their communities. The SDWA dashboard is the latest in a series of online dashboards available through ECHO, including tools for the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Key features of the SDWA dashboard include the following:
- It presents annual statistics and five-year trends for public water systems across the U.S., individual states and Indian country and territories in easy-to-read pie graph and bar chart formats.
- Users can view various sets of data -- including violation history, site visits and enforcement actions -- sorted onto one screen.
- By clicking on a chart, users can view more details about the data represented and can connect to detailed facility reports for individual non-complying systems.
- All data can be exported, downloaded and printed.
"It's critical that the public knows whether public water systems are complying with laws that protect against harmful pollution in drinking water," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance at EPA. "This dashboard is a vital resource for Americans that want to play an active role to ensure clean drinking water in their communities. The dashboard supports EPA's commitment to build transparency and engage the public in environmental protection."
The SDWA is the main federal law that ensures the quality of Americans' drinking water. Under the Act, EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the implementation of those standards by the state, tribal and territorial agencies and may bring enforcement actions against any public water systems that violate the standards.
See also:
"EPA awards over $17M in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants to address algal blooms"
"EPA allots over $271M to New York, New Jersey for clean water projects"
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