57. What to Know About Your Drinking Water

Lisa Sorg is the Assistant Editor and Environmental Reporter at NC Newsline. She helps manage newsroom operations while covering the environment, climate change, agriculture and energy. She talks with me in two other so listen to episodes 8 and 11 to hear more from her.

Within the episode we mostly reference NC drinking water suppliers, although you can apply this same information to your own area. According to the EPA, there are approximately 150,000 public water systems that provide drinking water to most Americans. Customers that are served by a public water system are able to contact their local water supplier and ask for information on contaminants in their drinking water, and are encouraged to request a copy of their Consumer Confidence Report. This report lists the levels of contaminants that have been detected in the water, including those by EPA, and whether the system meets state and EPA drinking water standards. Then about 10 percent of people in the United States rely on water from private wells. Private wells are not regulated and people who use private wells need to take precautions to ensure their drinking water is safe. 

Contact or connect with Lisa: lsorg@ncnewsline.com 

Consumer Confidence Report: https://www.epa.gov/ccr/ccr-information-consumers

Drinking water info: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-your-drinking-water