EPA selects Underwriters Laboratories for public water systems sample tests in US

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a contract to water quality and safety company Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to perform sample test for contaminents on public water systems in the US.

As per the contractual terms, UL will test those water systems that serve less than or equal to 10,000 people in the US.

The information on the contaminants will be required for the third cycle of EPA’s unregulated contaminant monitoring rule (UCMR 3) programme.

EPA will use the collected data tested by UL to analyse if new regulations are needed to protect public health.

Underwriters Laboratories Global Food and Water Businesses general manager Hank Lambert said that based on its past experience of
working with the EPA, the company will now work for the UCMR 3 programme for small systems.

"Public safety is a major priority and through this effort we are able to work toward ensuring a safe, clean water supply for all," Lambert added.

UL will work for 12 months between January 2013 and December 2015, on about 800 EPA-selected small public water systems and examine for 21 contaminants.

It will also test 480 EPA-selected small systems to look for seven additional contaminants.

Every five years, the EPA, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, identifies a new list of contaminants that pose a potential threat to the public health and determines new steps to improve water quality.

UL and the EPA have been working together to identify contaminants since the inception of the UCMR programme in 2001.

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Image: Underwriters Laboratories will sample test public water systems in US for the EPA. Photo: Martin Meise.