Ensuring safe, accessible drinking water is a core responsibility of the United States government. The United States has some of the best tap water in the world. But the safety of our drinking water is under constant stress.
Among the major problems:
• Infrastructure is crumbling and decaying.
• Programs to protect source water lack funding.
• Utilities often can’t afford to test for and treat contamination.
• Some disinfectants used to treat polluted water actually break down into toxic substances.
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not established drinking water standards for so-called “unregulated contaminants,” harmful chemicals such as the industrial pollutant hexavalent chromium, the rocket-fuel component perchlorate and the perfluorinated chemicals PFOA and PFOS, active ingredients in stain removers and carpet cleaners.
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