ABSTRACT
In 1977, the first drinking water standards established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) took effect. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) eventually determined that approximately 150 community waterworks in existence in the late 1970s violated this new standard. At the urging of several equipment manufacturers, EPA decided to investigate the possibility of utilizing point-of-use (POU) or point-of-entry (POE) devices for long-term compliance with certain of the drinking water standards. After discussions with VDH, it was determined that a demonstration project using POU devices for fluoride removal would be a good candidate to demonstrate the appropriateness of POU technology. The POU demonstration project was initiated in May 1991. The goal of the project was to satisfactorily demonstrate that POU devices could be utilized as a means of long-term compliance with established Maximum Contaminant Levels, and that they deserved to be classified as Best Available Technology for small systems.
