JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.-- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has identified 21 drinking water systems in Missouri that have chronically failed to complete drinking water testing required by the department to ensure a safe water supply.
The department classifies a drinking water system as a chronic violator when a system has three major monitoring violations in a 12-month period. Routine testing by a drinking water system is crucial to maintaining a safe water supply.
The department requires all public water systems to test for bacteria at least once a month to verify these systems are providing safe drinking water to the public. The vast majority of community and non-community public water systems in Missouri comply with all monitoring requirements and meet all drinking water standards. This current list of 21 systems represents less than one percent of the approximately 2,800 public drinking water systems in Missouri.
Bacteriological testing can be the first step in identifying and correcting a problem. The next step is to investigate the cause of any bad samples and perform corrective action, such as disinfecting and flushing the system. When a public water system has a record of both failing to monitor and a history of exceeding contaminant levels, this may raise concerns about the quality of the drinking water.
