The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has updated the rule for pathogens in drinking water, including setting a limit for the bacteria E. coli to better protect public health.
The Revised Total Coliform Rule ensures that all of the approximately 155,000 public water systems in the United States, which provide drinking water to more than 310 million people, take steps to prevent exposure to pathogens like E. coli. Pathogens like E. coli can cause a variety of illnesses with symptoms such as acute abdominal discomfort or, in more extreme cases, kidney failure or hepatitis.
Under the revised rule, public drinking water systems are
