Drinking Water Research
Water systems increasingly face challenges in delivering adequate supplies of safe drinking water. Legacy issues—such as aging infrastructure, lead service lines, and disinfection byproducts—can impact water safety and availability. Emerging issues—such as the treatment of algal toxins and PFAS—are also high priorities. Innovative, cost-effective approaches are needed to optimize the efficacy and efficiency of water treatment and distribution, especially for small systems that often face greater technical, financial, and operational challenges to comply with new and existing standards. EPA’s drinking water treatment and distribution research provides essential results and tools to help manage existing and future drinking water needs that require novel solutions.
Research Topics
- Lead (Pb) and Copper
- Technical Support for Water Infrastructure
- Treatment and Control of Contaminants
- Infrastructure Resilience
- Security
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
- Methods to Measure Waterborne Contaminants
- Source Water
- Wildfires and Water Quality
Outreach and Engagement Opportunities
Models, Tools, and Methods
Tools
- Drinking Water Treatability Database
- Breakpoint Chlorination Simulator for Drinking Water Systems
- Water Modeling Tools for Decision Support
- Chloramine Formation and Decay Simulator for Drinking Water Systems
- Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid System Simulator for Drinking Water Systems
- Cyanobacteria Assessment Network Mobile Application
- Water Infrastructure Database (WATERiD)
Models
- EPANET (Drinking water distribution systems)
- Drinking Water Treatment Cost Models
- Environmental Technologies Design Option Tool (includes treatment for PFAS)
- CANARY (Drinking water security)