Small towns, big challenges: Does rurality influence Safe Drinking Water Act compliance?

Marcillo, Cristina E.; Krometis, Leigh‐Anne

doi:10.1002/aws2.1120

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Our results demonstrating that smaller systems tend to have more MCL and TCR violations is supported by previous research (22)(23)(24)(25)28). We also found small systems have significant higher concentrations in arsenic, cadmium and lead compared to larger systems, which gives indication for further efforts to be focused on small water systems in California.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Only a few large-scale studies have examined the role of characteristics such as system size, region or socioeconomic status on the quality of drinking water. National and local studies have evaluated trends in MCL violations and found that smaller and more rural systems tended to have the largest number of violations (23)(24)(25). Other studies have also observed similar trends small systems for specific contaminants such as nitrate and carcinogenic compounds (26,27).…”

Section: The State Water Resources Control Board (Swrcb)'s Division Omentioning

confidence: 87%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water: analyses by region and water system size

Bangia¹,

August²,

Slocombe³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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BACKGROUND While research has shown that small community water systems in the San Joaquin Valley, an agricultural region in California, experience a disproportionate amount of drinking water contamination, little is known about the extent of contamination in other California regions. Additionally, state-wide research on drinking water contamination in areas not served by community water systems (mostly private domestic well users) and research comparing contamination across system size are also limited.METHODS Using a novel method to assign drinking water and groundwater contaminant data to community water system service areas and areas outside of service area boundaries, we conducted a spatial analysis to estimate concentrations of thirteen contaminants and two drinking water standard violations by system size and California region. We developed a cumulative ranking method to evaluate which regions or system size category are most burdened by multiple drinking water pollutants. A trend test was also used to evaluate the influence of system size on contaminant concentrations.RESULTS The San Joaquin Valley, areas not served by community water systems, and small water systems had the highest cumulative rank for multiple high contaminant concentrations, most notably arsenic and nitrate. Large systems and the South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles, had the highest levels of disinfection byproducts and industrial contaminants like tetrachloroethylene. Violations, arsenic, lead, and cadmium had negative trends as system size increased (p<0.05). Industrial contaminants and disinfection byproducts had positive trends as system size increased (p<0.05).CONCLUSIONS Few large-scale studies have examined how geographic region or system size impact drinking water quality. Although not indicative of violating drinking water standards, our results show where efforts for specific contaminants can be targeted in specific regions. The results presented here can help understand where contaminant levels might be elevated, both from an individual contaminant perspective as well as where multiple elevated contaminant levels accumulate.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: The State Water Resources Control Board (Swrcb)'s Division Omentioning

confidence: 87%

Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water: analyses by region and water system size

Bangia¹,

August²,

Slocombe³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Water quality challenges faced by smaller, especially rural, communities have been well documented in the scientific literature (Allaire et al., 2018; Marcillo and Krometis, 2019) and regulatory analyses published by the U.S. EPA (2009, 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative risk analysis of carcinogenic contaminants in United States drinking water

Evans

Campbell

Naidenko

2019

Heliyon

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Cumulative risk analysis of contaminant occurrence in United States drinking water for the period of 2010-2017 indicates that over 100,000 lifetime cancer cases could be due to carcinogenic chemicals in tap water. The majority of this risk is due to the presence of arsenic, disinfection byproducts and radioactive contaminants. For different states within the U.S., cumulative cancer risk for drinking water contaminants ranges between 1 Â 10 À4 and 1 Â 10 À3 , similar to the range of cumulative cancer risks reported for air pollutants. Overall, national attributable risk due to tap water contaminants is approximately 4 Â 10 À4 , which is two orders of magnitude higher than the de minimus cancer risk of one-in-a-million. Thus, decreasing the levels of chemical contaminants in drinking water represents an important opportunity for protecting public health.

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“…Only a few large‐scale studies have examined the role of characteristics such as system size, region, or socioeconomic status on the quality of drinking water. National and local studies have evaluated trends in violations and found that smaller and more rural systems tended to have the largest number of MCL violations (Allaire, Wu, & Lall, 2018; Marcillo & Krometis, 2019; Wallsten & Kosec, 2005). Other studies have also observed similar trends for specific contaminants such as nitrate and carcinogenic compounds in small systems (Evans, Campbell, & Naidenko, 2019; Schaider, Swetschinski, Campbell, & Rudel, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water by region and system size

et al. 2020

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In this California‐wide spatial analysis, a cumulative ranking method and a trend test were used to estimate and compare concentrations of 12 contaminants and two drinking water standard violations by system size and region. The San Joaquin Valley, areas not served by water systems, and small water systems (less than 200 connections) had the highest cumulative rank with many high levels of contaminants. Large systems and the South Coast had the highest levels of disinfection byproducts and industrial contaminants. Based on a trend analysis, violations and concentrations of arsenic and cadmium decreased as system size increased, while industrial contaminant concentrations and disinfection byproducts increased as system size increased (p < .05). Although not indicative of violating drinking water standards, this study's results demonstrate where efforts to address specific contaminants can be targeted by region or system type. The results can help elucidate where contaminants may be elevated, from both an individual and multiple‐contaminant perspective.

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Small towns, big challenges: Does rurality influence Safe Drinking Water Act compliance?

Cited by 28 publications

References 12 publications

Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water: analyses by region and water system size

Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water: analyses by region and water system size

Cumulative risk analysis of carcinogenic contaminants in United States drinking water

Assessment of contaminants in California drinking water by region and system size

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