GEF

Unit 3  |  Water Use and Human Water Systems 80 Some communities use constructed wetlands to assist in the purifica- tion of wastewater. For the most part, water systems in the developed world have been remarkably successful at maintaining high domestic water quality. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates standards for water quality for household use under the Safe Drinking Water Act . While these safeguards are effective at preventing most disease outbreaks, there are occasional problems, such as a 1993 cryp- tosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, in which 400,000 people were infected with this serious waterborne disease. In many cases, accurate statistics for diseases caused by municipal water are difficult to come by. A wide range of pollutants in municipal water, such as pesticides, livestock hormones, and industrial byproducts are not tested, and their effect on human health remains uncertain. Some countries have banned pesticides such as atrazine, which has been shown to be an endocrine disruptor in fish and other aquatic animals once it enters the water supply. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) An agency of the United States federal govern- ment whose mission is to protect human and environmental health. SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT The primary federal law in the U.S. that regulates public drinking water quality. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS Chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife. ?  DID YOU KNOW According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), currently, around the globe, 80 percent of all wastewater flows back into the ecosys- tem without being treated or reused.