The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an Emergency Administrative Order under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to the Havasu Water Company located in California.
The order, based on EPA’s mission to protect human health, comes after frequent water outages that may endanger public health because of the high potential for bacteria or other disease-causing organisms to be introduced into the company’s water distribution system.
“Ensuring the safety and reliability of drinking water across all communities, regardless of their size or economic status, is a primary focus of our agency,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a press release. “We will continue to use our full authority to protect public health and ensure compliance with drinking water standards.”
What the emergency order does
The emergency order compels Havasu Water Company to make alternative water available during any incident where EPA requires distribution of boil water notices, such as water outages.
Since March 2022, Havasu Water Company has been under a Boil Water Notice for approximately 300 days due to water line breaks, power outages or other incidents causing water outages and loss of pressure.
The company must also develop standard operating procedures to appropriately respond to pressure loss incidents, have a third-party contractor assess the water distribution system and correct major deficiencies, and ensure certified personnel conduct essential operator duties.
The order also requires Havasu Water Company to issue EPA-approved boil water notices in accordance with EPA regulations and during any loss of pressure incident.
During four previous water outage incidents the company did not issue such a notice, even though there was a loss of pressure in the system.
The company failed to issue a timely boil water notice to all customers on both occasion where EPA explicitly required it.
In several instances, the company distributed misinformation to customers by using language that nullified the purpose of the required notice and by physically covering a notice posted in a public place with a letter with misinformation, despite EPA providing a template and direction for the issuance of a boil water notice.
This emergency action follows an administrative order issued by the EPA to the Havasu Water Company on May 28, 2024, for violations of the SDWA’s National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.
These violations included exceedance of the maximum contaminant level for total trihalomethanes, which are byproducts that may form during the disinfection process. The regulations set a maximum contaminant level for total trihalomethanes at 80 micrograms per liter.
Long-term exposure to levels above that may lead to increased risk of cancer, along with liver, kidney, or central nervous problems.
Additional Havasu Water Company violations included the company’s failure to have qualified personnel operate the water system, failure to provide required public notifications, failure to correct significant deficiencies with the system, and failure to report appropriate surface water treatment data.
