ABSTRACT
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the primary federal law with the purpose of ensuring that the public is provided with safe drinking water. In the United States, regulations governing drinking water quality date back to 1893 when the United States Congress enacted the Interstate Quarantine Act, which was developed to stop the spread of communicable diseases across national, state, and territorial boundaries. The surgeon general of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) was empowered to promulgate and enforce these regulations. The first water related regulation, adopted in 1912, prohibited the use of the common cup on carriers of interstate commerce, such as trains.
