Drinking Water Order Issued After Company's 'Failure' To Follow Regulations

A California water company has been ordered to comply with safe drinking water regulations to reduce risk levels of a potential cancer-causing chemical.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Havasu Water Company (HWC) needed to "take a series of steps to prevent further violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act."

Part of its "failure" to adhere to water laws includes the "violation of the maximum allowable level for total trihalomethanes," the EPA said in a statement on Thursday.

The Safe Drinking Water Act has set a maximum total contaminant level for these at 80 micrograms per liter.

Long-term exposure to levels higher than this could result in an "increased risk of cancer, along with liver, kidney, or central nervous problems," the EPA says.

On top of this, the EPA said HWC has also "failed to have qualified personnel operate the water system, to provide required public notifications, to correct significant deficiencies with the system and to report appropriate surface water treatment data."

Newsweek has contacted HWC for comment via email.

The provider is a privately owned system on the western shore of Lake Havasu, inside the boundaries of the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation.

It supplies drinking water to 361 people and uses surface water filtration treatment to process its water, according to the EPA.

The company is now required, by this recent Unilateral Administrative Order, to come up with a plan to make sure its trihalomethane levels comply with regulations.

It also needs to get an "appropriately certified operator, issue required public notices, address any remaining significant deficiencies, and submit appropriate and timely surface water treatment data."

This is not the first time HWC has come into trouble with the regulator. On February 8, it was issued with a precautionary boil water notice because of a failure to submit water treatment compliance data.

The EPA needs this data to verify that "adequately treating the surface water to control disease-causing organisms."

HWC was made to reissue this notice to all customers on March 12, before the notice was finally lifted on April 16, after "HWC provided sufficient information demonstrating the reporting of reliable water treatment compliance data."

It comes as President Joe Biden's administration and the EPA introduced national limits on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water in April. These "forever chemicals" have also been linked to serious health conditions such as cancer.

Some states will already have set PFAS limits, but this is the first time restrictions are being implemented on a federal level.

The EPA estimates that of the 66,000 public drinking water systems subject to the new limits, between 6 and 10 percent would need to take action to meet the updated standards.