Successful ASDWA and EPA Drinking Water Workshop Held This Week

ASDWA and EPA co-hosted the 21st Annual Drinking Water Workshop this week in Cincinnati, Ohio entitled, “Small System Challenges and Solutions.” There were 239 participants at the workshop from 41 states and Guam, as well as staff from ASDWA and EPA ORD and OGWDW, and EPA Regions. This year’s workshop was for states and EPA only and focused on current lead and PFAS regulations.

The workshop started with a warm welcome from Janet McCabe, EPA’s Deputy Administrator, and additional opening remarks by Chris Frey, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Office of Research and Development, and Bruno Pigott, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, who spoke about current drinking water issues, the 50th Anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and working together with states to meet the continuing challenges.

The two and a half-day workshop featured technical presentations, in-depth training sessions, and breakout group discussions. During the sessions and discussions, EPA and states shared their efforts on the new lead and PFAS rules and discussed challenges and solutions for implementation. This included information about a variety of tools and resources, research, treatment technologies, funding, and technical assistance necessary to meet the different requirements.

During the polling at the end of the workshop, participants said the workshop was extremely helpful and provided lots of great information. They also said they need more funding and templates from EPA and ASDWA to help them with their continued work for implementing the rules. For more information, visit EPA’s event page.