General Information

Protecting Public Drinking Water

When people turn on the tap, they want good, clean water and plenty of it. But as development increases, there are growing numbers of threats that could contaminate drinking water and greater vigilance is vital to ensure that problems do not occur. Keeping public drinking water supplies safe is the shared responsibility of federal, state and local agencies, water suppliers, and now more than ever, consumers. Here are some things you should know in order to participate in maintaining high
quality water supplies.

Drinking water comes from two sources: surface water and ground water. Surface water includes streams and reservoirs. Ground water is pumped from wells that are drilled into aquifers. In Delaware, both are used to supply drinking water north of the Chesapeake & Delaware (C&D) Canal. South of the C&D Canal, all tap water comes from wells. There are 567 public water supply systems in the state; three use surface water and 564 rely on ground water.

The Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended in 1996, emphasizes two new elements in source water protection: a clear state lead in program development and management, and greater public involvement in the planning process. One of the first steps is for states to develop a Source Water Assessment Program to analyze existing and potential threats to the quality of public drinking water supplies. In Delaware, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Water Resources, is the lead agency. The public is included through a Citizen and Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC).

The Delaware Source Water Assessment:

delineates the boundaries of the areas providing water for public water
systems, identifies the origins of regulated and certain unregulated contaminants in the delineated areas, and determines the susceptibility of public water systems to contamination

Benefits of Source Water Protection

There are many benefits of source water protection.

• Pollution prevention is almost always cheaper than treating or replacing an existing drinking water supply. The costs of not protecting source water can include remediation or expensive treatment. If the source becomes too contaminated, replacement of the water supply system may be necessary.
• Source water protection reduces risks from contaminants to public health.
  
• Source water protection can result in reduced costs for compliance monitoring.
• Source water protection helps maintain or regain consumer confidence and reduces complaints.
• Source water protection promotes pro-active approaches and invites consumers to get involved in the process.