Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2003-0074-0277
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2003-12-24T05:00Z

Waterborne
Pathogens
Strategy:
The
Safe
Drinking
Water
Act
(
SDWA)
and
the
Clean
Water
Act
(
CWA)
address
microbial
(
pathogenic)
contamination
of
the
nation's
waters.
The
CWA
enables
protection
of
ambient,
recreational
and
shellfish
growing
water
uses.
The
SDWA
enables
regulation
of
contamination
of
source
waters
used
for
drinking
water,
groundwater
and
finished
drinking
water.
Indicators
of
fecal
contamination
(
and
thus
gastroenteritis
causing
organisms)
under
these
two
Acts
differ
based
on
likelihood
of
occurrence
in
the
water
source.
A
strategy
that
addressed
issues
such
as
non­
enteric
contamination
(
e.
g.
skin
rashes,
respiratory
illness),
emerging
pathogens
and
unification
of
indicators
under
the
two
Acts
would
be
very
useful
and
have
been
called
for
by
stakeholders
for
the
protection
of
human
health.

Pathogens:
Including
but
not
limited
to
protozoa
such
as,
Cryptosporidium
parvum
and
Giardia
lamblia;
viruses
such
as
enteroviruses
and
hepatitis
A;
bacteria
such
as
Legionella,
Mycobacteria.

Identification/
Indicators:
Availability
and
use
of
rapid,
accurate
and
inexpensive
pathogen
identification
is
a
problem.
In
addition,
use
of
the
same
indicator
organisms
for
fresh
and
marine
waters
would
be
useful
for
entities
that
are
responsible
for
monitoring
the
various
water
types.
Limiting
factors
include
cost,
accuracy,
specificity
and
sensitivity.
Regulatory
requirements
dictate
indicator
use:
TCR
­
bacteria,
GWR
­
phage
&
bacteria;
LT2ESWTR
­
Cryptosporidium;
UCMR
­
bacteria,
ambient
recreational
water
quality
­
bacteria.

Current
Methods:
The
following
types
of
methods
are
currently
in
use
or
have
been
proposed
for
use
in
the
various
water
types
mentioned
above.
°
Bacteria:
Coliform
(
total
and
fecal),
E.
coli,
fecal
streptococci,
Enterococci,
Aeromonas
°
Protozoa:
Cryptosporidium,
Giardia
°
Viruses:
Coliphage
Regulatory
Support
Documents:
Criteria
Documents
for
drinking
water
contaminants
provide
information
so
preliminary
decisions
can
be
made
as
to
whether
the
contaminant
is
a
significant
health
threat
via
drinking
water
exposure
and
whether
sufficient
data
exists
to
perform
quantitative
risk
assessments.
These
documents
also
have
shorter
versions.
Health
Advisories
are
shorter
versions
of
the
criteria
documents
that
serve
to
provide
information
in
a
non­
scientific
format.
Fact
Sheets
are
very
short
versions
of
the
criteria
documents
(
2
pages)
that
are
designed
for
general
public
consumption.
Children's
Risk
documents
provide
information
which
may
not
have
been
provided
in
the
criteria
documents
that
addresses
children's
health
issues.

Criteria
Documents,
Health
Advisories
&
Fact
Sheets:

Protozoa:
Cryptosporidium*,
Giardia*
Bacteria:
Legionella*,
Mycobacteria*,
Escherichia
coli
O157:
H7
Viruses:
Enteroviruses
and
Hepatitis
A
*
Children
Risk
Documents
Contact:
Robin
K.
Oshiro
Short­
term
Followup:
°
Include
New
Microbial
Strategy
(
March
2003)
in
decision
making
process
°
Obtain
copies
of
all
criteria
&
other
health
related
documents
mentioned
above
°
Follow
up
on
progress
of
EPA
cooperative
agreement
with
NRC
on
indicators
°
Follow
up
on
progress
of
new
microbial
indicator
methods
currently
being
developed
and
tested
by
ORD
Long­
term
Followup:
°
Further
exploration
of
best
indicators
associated
with
health
as
a
follow
up
to
the
completion
of
the
NRC
report
(
i.
e.
how
will
EPA
use
the
report)
°
Combinations
of
water
quality
indicators
may
provide
more
powerful
ways
to
assess
overall
health
risk
°
Determine
how
EPA
can
use
genetic
methods
as
alternative
methods
to
non­
genetic
methods
°
Determine
how
best
to
validate
genetic
methods
in
water
sources
and
how
that
data
compares
to
historical
non­
genetic
method
data