Drinking Water Protection
Program Descriptions
The mission of the Drinking Water Protection Program is to protect the public health by ensuring a safe and adequate supply of drinking water at all public water systems.
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires “public water systems” to provide safe drinking water to their customers. A public water system is any supply that serves at least 25 people on a regular basis or has 15 service connections. The public water systems covered by the SDWA are broken down into two categories as follows:
- Community systems, such as cities and manufactured housing developments, which typically serve people in their home.
- Noncommunity systems, such as schools, businesses, resorts, and restaurants, which usually serve water to people in places other than their homes.
The Drinking Water Protection Program oversees the implementation of the SDWA in Minnesota and does the following to make sure that safe drinking water is provided at all public water supplies:
- Performs on-site inspections of public water systems as well as monitors the water quality according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water Contaminants standards. Technical Assistance is provided to the owners and operators of the public water systems.
- Oversees the Consumer Confidence Reports program in Minnesota. Consumer Confidence Reports are the annual water quality reports that all community water systems much issue to their customers each year.
- Provides technical assistance to owners and operators of public water systems.
- Establishes construction standards; reviews and approves plans for construction of drinking water facilities. (Plan Review).
- Provides training and certifies operators of water treatment plants and distribution facilities. (General Information).
- Awards loans to public water suppliers for infrastructure improvements, through the Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund.
- Administers the Source Water Protection Program in Minnesota. This program protects public wells and other sources, such as rivers and lakes, which supply drinking water. The goal of source water protection is to prevent pollution of these sources by working with public water suppliers to develop and implement plans that protect their water sources. Maps and reports are also available of nitrate-affected areas of the state.
- Provides workshops for Wellhead Protection development and implementation.
- Develops and distributes Brochures and Fact Sheets.
For more information, refer to our contact list.
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