Emerging Contaminants
The BWL drinking water continues to meet or exceed all quality standards issued by the state and the federal agencies and have zero violations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) to collect data for contaminants that may be present in drinking water, but that do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
EPA Efforts
Once every five years, the EPA issues a new list of contaminants for utilities to analyze to assist with future public health regulations. Unregulated contaminants do not have a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) but are reported to and evaluated by EGLE and EPA. Monitoring helps the EPA determine which areas of the country these contaminants are being detected and to develop future regulations.
BWL Efforts
The BWL sampling periods for the rule were conducted in 2020. BWL posts results of the sampling in our Annual Water Quality Report. Certain contaminants analyzed under the sampling have become newsworthy and continue to gain attention. In that regard, we want to be transparent with our results and actions surrounding these results.
We are committed to providing our customers with safe, clean drinking water at the lowest cost possible. The BWL will continue to monitor the water supply and will take necessary action if regulations are set by the state or federal agencies.
Acknowledgements: This information was prepared using various resources including EPA, EGLE and CDC documents.