Strong intergovernmental partnerships are also needed to ensure that public health is protected through the implementation of and compliance with existing drinking water standards. To help support a partnership approach, EPA recognizes the need to provide flexibility so that States can implement drinking water regulations in a manner that maximizes the return on the resources invested. The Agency also recognizes the need for a well-informed public to help States, local governments and water suppliers meet current and future challenges in ensuring drinking water safety. Community-based, effective source water protection . Preventing contamination directly enhances public health protection.
Communities can develop a broad strategy that reflects local needs and conditions.
With prevention as the foundation, a comprehensive approach to ensuring drinking water safety will ultimately be a less expensive means of attaining drinking water quality than monitoring and treatment alone. The Agency's role is to help communities, public water systems and other stakeholders understand this relationship and implement sound, workable source water protection plans. The redirection requires a number of basic changes in the Agency's approaches to carrying out the drinking water program, as indicated in Figure 1. The Partnership for Safe Water is an innovative, voluntary effort by water suppliers to optimize existing drinking water treatment systems in order to enhance the potential to prevent the entry of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other microbial contaminants into treated water. As of May 1996, over 140 utilities serving a total population of approximately 76 million people have signed up to participate.