Water & Health Advisory Council |
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Safe drinking water is one of the most important public health achievements in modern history.
I’ve dedicated my career to focusing on water quality, risk assessment, water chemistry and regulatory policy, and I joined the Council to help in our mission to provide clarity and context to water policy makers and public health professionals.
My time in the water industry has shown me that ensuring safe drinking water is an ongoing and complex challenge that we must constantly work to address. Many public water systems experience difficulties with aging infrastructure, limited resources and staffing, and contaminants.
In the U.S., there are a total of 150,000 public water systems. Of these public water systems, 50,000 are community systems and about 43,000 are small systems that serve populations ranging from 3,300 to 25 people. Small water systems serve a total of 8 million people out of more than 300 million people served in the U.S., but they often lack proper staffing, have limited access to resources, and unstable infrastructure. All of which impact our nation’s ability to provide safe drinking water.
In this month’s blog, I explore potential solutions and possible methods to overcome these ongoing challenges in small systems. These systems are also being studied intensively in states across the nation, including in California’s Drinking Water Needs Assessment. For this assessment, my fellow Council member Chad Seidel and his colleagues worked alongside other industry professionals to evaluate California’s current challenges with small water systems.
Our nation has made great strides in providing safe drinking water. We must continue to evaluate the current challenges facing safe water supply in our nation and work to prioritize drinking water needs equitably across all public water systems.
Sincerely,
Joseph Cotruvo, Ph.D, BCES
President, Joseph Cotruvo & Associates
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Member Blog | The Persistent Small Water System Problem and Potential Solutions |
When there is a contamination or an infrastructure problem, small systems are at a great financial and personnel disadvantage. Small water systems lack economies of scale which limits their access to persons with appropriate expertise when issues arise. Even if the water quality is good and/or technology is installed, the operation and maintenance and distribution infrastructure issues are still substantial. |
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Member Research | AWWA Water Science: Does regulating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances represent a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction? |
Katherine Alfredo, Amlan Ghosh and Council member Chad Seidel recently released a peer-reviewed analysis that sets a new way for policymakers to analyze toxic contaminants throughout the US.
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Member Research | California Drinking Water Needs Assessment 2021-22 |
The Human Right to Water “HR2W” guides the California Water Board’s mission of functioning and sustainable drinking water systems. To develop the first Statewide Drinking Water Needs Assessment, Council member Chad Seidel and his colleagues worked alongside other water professionals to evaluate the current challenges facing safe and affordable water supply in California. |
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We're pleased to join the AWWA network and be a part of their mission to help educate and support water utilities in their strides to improve water quality and supply. |
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From emergency climate-induced weather conditions to ongoing aging infrastructure needs, our nation's water supply is at risk. We must prioritize what best protects public health for the greatest number of people. |
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CalMatters: California is running out of water |
"'The challenge is there is no water.”
That bleak assessment from Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources, puts the devastating scope of California’s drought into perspective even more sharply than the sea of statistics released Tuesday and reported by CalMatters’ Rachel Becker."
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The Guardian: Almost half a million US households lack indoor plumbing: ‘The conditions are inhumane’
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"Clean, safe, affordable water and sanitation are essential for human health, economic prosperity and environmental justice. Yet when Covid struck and public health experts recommended regular hand washing to curtail the spread, an estimated quarter of the world’s population, 2 billion people, lacked clean running water, while almost half did not have access to proper sanitation, according to UN figures." |
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Associated Press: Ida’s sweltering aftermath: No power, no water, no gasoline |
"With water treatment plants overwhelmed by floodwaters or crippled by power outages, some places were also facing shortages of drinking water. About 441,000 people in 17 parishes had no water, and an additional 319,000 were under boil-water advisories, federal officials said."
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AMWA: Congress faces deadlines on funding extension, debt ceiling, and infrastructure package |
"Up first is H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a bipartisan infrastructure package that won Senate approval in August. The bill includes $550 billion in new infrastructure spending over five years, including nearly $50 billion for drinking water programs."
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Kaiser Health News: The ‘Burn Scars’ of Wildfires Threaten the West’s Drinking Water
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"Still, the cost to municipal utility systems — and the residents who pay for water — is immense. Rural small towns in particular face the choice between spending millions of dollars to try to filter turbid water or shutting off their intake and risking shortages in areas where water may already be scarce." |
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Reuters: Southwest U.S. drought, worst in a century, linked by NOAA to climate change |
"While summer 2021 brought welcome monsoon rains to parts of the Southwest, several years of above-average rain and high-elevation snow are needed to replenish the region's reservoirs, streams and soils." |
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