Safe Drinking Water Act Turning 40
As a child in Cleveland in the 1960’s I grew used to seeing the signs of our bustling industrial city; flares on tall smokestacks just off the highway, the elegant Terminal Tower shrouded in haze and smog barely visible on a hot summer day, and the awful smells near “the Flats” by the Cuyahoga River. This was all just another part of living near the city. But like most kids, I was still eager to find new places to play outside, even downtown. One of these was Edgewater Beach on Lake Erie, right in downtown Cleveland.
Whether we were there to see the fireworks on the 4th of July or stopping by to get near the water on a hot Sunday afternoon, we were uneasy about taking a swim. Even as a 7-year old, I understood that something had to be really wrong when the Cuyahoga River caught fire. What I didn’t understand was that the water that I watched burning on the nightly news, flowed into the source of my drinking water.
Cities around the country faced similar source water challenges that impacted drinking water quality, and they are part of the reason the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 1974. I didn’t understand until much later the very important role that implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act played in protecting the health of Americans by cleaning up Lake Erie and waters all across the US. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the law, which requires all public water systems to comply with strict drinking water quality standards.
Safe drinking water is central to our lives and to our health, but there are many continuing and emerging challenges to providing safe drinking water. To mark the 40th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act, we will highlight stories and examples of the importance of drinking water to our economy, our health, and our environment. We will also share the efforts currently underway to address the challenges our drinking water supplies face. You can follow and share these stories by going to the Safe Drinking Water Act 40th Anniversary website or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
About the author: Peter Grevatt, Ph.D. is Director of EPA’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed here are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
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Congratulations to the US EPA and all Americans on the 40th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act. From the turmoil of the 1970s with Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter leading us to the present day, we can be thankful that clean water to drink is now more available to more human beings in our country than in much of our history.
Thanks to the nation’s Environmental Protection Agency, private and public lands, water, and air are healthier to us today. May we always put public health foremost in our priorities.