Drinking Water is Safe, Clean & Taste Great too

The Utah Drinking Water Board Makes Sure of It

 

A little known fact: Taste tests show that the best-tasting drinking water in the nation comes from Beaver City in Utah’s Beaver County.

Utah’s great-quality drinking water is not surprising to the Drinking Water Board, a diverse 11-member group dedicated to helping the 938 public water supply systems in Utah meet federal standards protective of public health. The great taste is simply a bonus.

“Utah is well known for its quality of drinking water,” said Board Chairwoman Anne Erickson, a retired academic vice president of Salt Lake Community College who is serving her second term on the Board, representing the Public-At-Large.

At this year’s National Rural Water Association convention, Beaver City’s water won the best-tasting drinking water in a taste test contest.

Since the Drinking Water Board’s creation in 1979, the Board has been dedicated to ensuring that Utahns and its visitors are provided with safe and ample drinking water supplies. The Board also administers federal and state funds to help water systems make improvements. It’s a diverse group comprised of members representing local elected officials, water districts, academia, consulting engineering, industry, general public, and local health departments. Since the Drinking Water Board’s creation, there have been five chairpersons: Bob Hilbert, Dan McArthur, Boyd Workman, Dale Pierson, and Anne Erickson.

Hilbert, a retired manager of the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District, now known as the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, was the original charter member of the Board, serving as chairman for 16 years. Hilbert was instrumental in helping the Legislature draft language that created the Board that gave Utah primacy over meeting the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. “Rather than having the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the primary oversight for Utah’s drinking water systems, I felt we had an opportunity to do it ourselves.” He said he is most proud of creating the loan program and holding Board meetings in rural locations throughout the state. “It was important to me that we get out of our Board room and visit rural communities.”

“It has been the Board philosophy to follow the laws by working with the local water suppliers to make sure that it is done efficiently and protective of public health,” said Dale Pierson, a former Board chairman and executive director of the Rural Water Association of Utah.

“One of the major challenges the Drinking Water Board faces is to ensure the loan and grant program is used wisely to protect public health,” Pierson said. “Basically the Board makes sure the state is getting the biggest bang for the buck and public health is protected.”

To that end, the Board spends a great deal of its time helping smaller, rural drinking water systems comply with drinking water standards in a highly regulated environment.

“The water industry in Utah is a very dedicated, professional group that has a very succinct and common goal of protecting public health,” said Kevin Brown, director of the Division of Drinking Water who serves as the Executive Secretary to the Drinking Water Board.

“We all work hand in hand,” agreed Pierson, who served as the Board’s chair from 2003 to 2005. He resigned from the Board to become the executive director of the Rural Water Association of Utah.

For instance, when EPA’s new regulations for arsenic levels went into effect early this year, the Board had granted three-year extensions to 32 water utilities to allow them more time to meet the new standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb) arsenic in drinking water – much lower than the 50 ppb once considered safe to drink.

Rather than fighting EPA over the rule, the Board simply gave water suppliers more time and flexibility to make sure they can meet the standard.

“For the small water systems, an extension is very important,” Pierson said. “For one thing, technology is rapidly changing and by giving water suppliers additional time they may end up with cheaper solutions down the road.”

Providing smaller water suppliers the financial assistance they need to make improvements is one of the satisfactions to Highland City Mayor Jay Franson in serving on the Board.

“It’s seeing those accomplishments,” Franson said. “Vernon in Tooele County, for instance, is building a major distribution line to serve its community. Smaller systems like this have a harder time keeping up with growth. But when it comes down to it, everyone deserves good drinking water.”

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