AMWA Offers Feedback on Sewer Overflow Notification Bill

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) today commented on legislation before the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment that would require publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to notify downstream drinking water facilities of sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges that could pose an imminent threat to human health.  Similar versions of the “Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act” have been introduced in both the House and Senate (H.R. 2452 and S. 2080, respectively).

“Drinking water systems carefully monitor the quality of source water intakes and take precautions necessary to make water safe for their customers,” said AMWA Executive Director Diane VanDe Hei.  “At times, this may require temporary increases of disinfectants or shutting off the intake pumps for a specific area for a short period.”

“Setting up a system that facilitates communication between POTWs and downstream community drinking water systems immediately following significant sewer overflows will help ensure that needed precautions are taken,” VanDe Hei added.

Other provisions of the bill, however, may lead to an overabundance of notifications.  The legislation would require POTWs to issue public notifications for each overflow that “has the potential to affect human health.”  On this point, AMWA asks Congress to ensure that the legislation does not result in repeated notifications that stir unfounded fear among drinking water users or, conversely, cause consumers to disregard the most important notices.

“Most small, isolated overflows do not actually have an impact on human health,” said VanDe Hei.  “But the bill’s requirement of individual public notifications after each and every overflow with the ‘potential’ to do so, no matter how small, could lead the public to needlessly question the quality and safety of their drinking water.”

VanDe Hei concluded, “This legislation represents a good start, but there is clear room for improvement.  AMWA and its members are eager to work with Congress on this issue to ensure that drinking water systems receive the information they need about sewer overflow events.”