Safe Drinking Water Act [SDWA] Law and Legal Definition
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the main federal law created to protect public health by regulating the nation's public drinking water supply. The SDWA ensures the quality of Americans' drinking water.
The SDWA provides water quality standards for drinking-water suppliers, protects underground drinking-water sources, and directs appropriate deep-well injection of wastes.
The SDWA requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate through Primary Drinking Water Regulations, all public water systems that provide piped water for human consumption for at least sixty days a year to at least fifteen service connections or twenty-five people.
The law was amended in 1986 and 1996 and requires many actions to protect drinking water and its sources: rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells.
