Describe the Safe Drinking Water Act

What will be an ideal response?

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) sets standards for drinking water supplied by a public water supply system, which is defined by the act as a water supply system that has at least 15 service connections or serves 25 or more persons. The SDWA requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish two levels of drinking water standards for potential drinking water contaminants. Primary standards are to protect human health, and secondary standards are to protect the aesthetic quality of drinking water.
Primary standards are based on maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) and maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for all contaminants that have the potential to have an adverse effect on human health. MCLGs are the levels at which there are no potential adverse health effects. These are unenforceable, health-based goals; they are the high standards to which we aspire. The MCLs are the enforceable standards. They are developed from the MCLGs but also take into account the feasibility and cost of meeting the standard. By 1991, the EPA was to have set MCLs for 108 of the hundreds of contaminants found in our drinking water and MCLs for 25 more contaminants every three years thereafter. These goals were not met, and the 1996 amendments to the SDWA gave the EPA more flexibility in setting standards so that the agency could focus first on setting standards for the contaminants that posed the greatest potential health hazards.
Keeping up with the ever-increasing MCLs is a difficult task for public drinking water suppliers. Monitoring these systems is also a chore. Most states do monthly monitoring. Violations may be punished by administrative fines or orders. The 1996 amendments also imposed a "right to know" provision, requiring drinking water suppliers to provide every household with annual reports on water contaminants and the health problems they may cause.