The Water & Health Advisory Council recently joined the Waterloop podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of drinking water, grounded in their recently released book, Safe Drinking Water Act: The Next Fifty Years. Throughout the conversation, Council members emphasized a central theme: while the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) has been remarkably successful over the past fifty years, the risks facing water systems today look very different from those present when the law was first enacted.
Today’s regulatory framework incentivizes the pursuit of new contaminants. While addressing contaminants remains important, it can be extremely costly to continue pursuing chemicals with shrinking marginal returns.This often diverts attention and resources from more urgent system-level risks. Council member Janet Anderson says, “we want to be able to think about risk in a way that prioritizes the worst first. We must prioritize resources to make sure we really are providing the best, safest water for the general public.” Council members emphasized the need to prioritize the most significant challenges, particularly those affecting water delivery, including aging infrastructure and workforce capacity. The conversation made clear that the focus must shift from contaminants alone to the broader conditions that ensure safe and reliable water.
“We really need to invest in the infrastructure that’s buried which is 50 or 100 years old and getting older faster.” – Alan Roberson
The Council also highlighted the importance of scale. With tens of thousands of water systems nationwide, many serving small populations in rural areas, maintaining consistent water quality and reliable service can be challenging. The Council points to a future with fewer, larger utilities, around 6,500, as a way to improve performance, resilience, and compliance. While Congress anticipated consolidation following the passage of the SDWA, it never fully materialized. Moving forward, greater consolidation will be key to building stronger, more capable systems.
“It isn’t easy, but there are a lot of places that would dramatically benefit from consolidation organizationally or physically.” – Chad Seidel
Equity remains at the core of these recommendations. Manny Teodoro emphasizes that environmental justice in drinking water requires the elimination of “those racial, ethnic, socioeconomic disparities in Safe Drinking Water Act protections.” Persistent disparities in compliance and enforcement highlight the need for a more consistent national approach that ensures every system meets the same standard of safety.
Ultimately, the path forward comes down to two major shifts: prioritizing the most significant risks, many of which are not contaminant driven, and ensuring compliance across all water systems nationwide. These ideas are central to the Council’s broader vision, captured in the Madison Declaration, which calls for a more balanced, practical, and forward-looking approach to drinking water policy.
“Utilities are forced to keep spending on newly regulated contaminants that have questionable value to public health as opposed to spending that money on [aging infrastructure], a skilled workforce, or all of these other risks.” – Kathryn Sorensen
Those interested in supporting this effort are encouraged to read the open-access book and sign onto the Madison Declaration to help build momentum for the next fifty years of safe and reliable drinking water.
Listen to the full episode here.