The Nation’s wastewater and drinking water systems continue to be stretched to serve ever growing populations with outdated infrastructure. One of the biggest health challenges is managing the great number of sanitary sewer overflows that discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into our water resources contributing to thousands of illnesses from contaminated recreational waters. Waterborne illnesses also continue to threaten drinking water supplies with Legionella and other viruses attributing to disease incidences.

Research focuses on:

• developing the methodologies and scientific information to support drinking water standards and other policies that protect people from waterborne illnesses
• improving methods to measure human exposure to waterborne pathogens from source waters or drinking waters
• prioritizing pathogen groups and information on the health risks of waterborne pathogens

Related Resources

• Saliva-Based Exposure Assays for Detecting Exposure to Waterborne Pathogens
• Relative Risk of Pharmaceuticals in Waste Water
• Science Matters: A Major Step Towards Cleaner Water and Soil
• Water Quality Criteria Documents
• Water Quality Standards: Human Health Criteria
• Chemical and Microbial Risk Research