ABSTRACT

Modern history shows that waterborne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, and cholera are controllable, and in fact were all but eliminated in the United States by the 1930s by applying the principles identified in what are commonly referred to as the United States Public Health Service (PHS) Drinking Water Standards. The objective of the advisory committee for the 1962 standards was to recommend minimum requirements for domestic water systems to protect the health and promote the well-being of individuals and the community. Because of difficulties encountered during the National Community Water Supply Study in applying the 1962 PHS standards, a federal technical committee was established in October 1969 by the PHS and charged with the responsibility of preparing necessary revisions and recommendations to revise the 1962 standards. Amended once before becoming effective in June 1977, Interim Primary Drinking Water regulations were amended further in 1979, 1980, and 1982.