News Releases - 1998

Protection of Drinking Water Taking New Direction

Springfield, Ill. -- As part of a federal requirement that the nation's public drinking water sources be protected against possible contamination, the Illinois Source Water Protection Technical and Citizens Advisory committee chaired by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is readying a plan for the assessment of the surface and groundwater sources that provide potable water to Illinois consumers.

While Illinois has had nearly a century of experience in regulating water supplies that provide drinking water through community water systems, efforts traditionally have focused on monitoring and treatment at the water treatment plant. Under the 1996 re-authorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act, states are required by early in the next century to have a Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) that meets the following requirements:

• delineates source water assessment area boundaries for all public water supplies;

• an inventory of existing and potential sources of contaminations within those boundaries;

• an analysis of the susceptibility of the water systems to the contaminants; and

• a process for making the assessments available to the public.

In Illinois, both the Illinois EPA and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) regulate certain types of water supplies serving the public. Though the numbers vary slightly over time, there are currently approximately 5,600 such supplies. The Illinois EPA is responsible for regulating nearly 1,800 of those; the rest fall under IDPH jurisdiction.

The SWAP has two key elements: clear state leadership in implementing the program, and a strong program to ensure that information is shared with the public in an understandable format, with extensive public involvement in developing and implementing the program.

The Illinois EPA is building its program with a significant input of data already collected by ongoing programs such as the Groundwater Protection Act, the Well Head Protection Program, the Watershed Management Program and the Comprehensive State Ground Water Protection Program.

Over the next three weeks, prior to submission of the draft to U.S. EPA, the Illinois EPA is seeking public input on whether the draft achieves the federal specifications for content and provides a way to successfully communicate that information to the public.

The draft SWAP application will be submitted to U.S. EPA for approval by February 1999, after which U.S. EPA has nine months in which to accept or reject it. Once approved, the state will have two years to complete the source assessments, though 18 month extensions are possible. The Illinois EPA anticipates that the full 3.5 years will be needed to complete the assessments.

The draft program application, including a public comment/feedback form, is available on the Agency's homepage at www.epa.state.il.us or copies can be obtained by contacting the

Illinois EPA
Division of Public Water Supplies,
Groundwater section
1021 North Grand Ave. E.
Springfield IL 62794-9276

Copies can also be obtained by calling the U.S. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act hotline at 1-800-426-4791.