Water Rules and Guidance

• Guidance Values and Standards for Contaminants in Drinking Water

• Health-based guidance for water is a concentration of a chemical (or a mixture of chemicals) in drinking water that is likely to pose little or no health risk to humans.

• Health Risk Limits for Water

• MDH promulgates Health Risk Limits (HRLs) Rules for chemicals in groundwater used as drinking water.

• Pesticides

• MDH consults with other agencies to develop health-based standards and/or advisory levels for pesticides in groundwater.

• Pharmaceuticals

• The presence of pharmaceuticals in water has become an increasing concern to MDH because they may cause harm to humans.

• Public Drinking Water Program - Safe Drinking Water Act

• MDH administers and enforces the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to the nearly 10,000 public water supplies in Minnesota.

• Drinking Water and Source Water Protection Laws and Rules

• Links to laws and rules pertaining to drinking water and source water protection in Minnesota.

• Monitoring and Testing of Drinking Water

• How government agencies monitor public drinking water.

• Water and Microbial Risk

• Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) can be used to estimate the public’s risk of infection and illness from disease-causing microorganisms in the environment.

• Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern

• Contaminants of emerging concern are substances that have been released to, found in, or have the potential to enter Minnesota waters.

• Wells and Borings Laws and Rules

• Rules and statutes for wells and borings in Minnesota.