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Testing to begin in January for 30 new contaminants

UCMR 4
June 30, 2017 -- Public water systems in Iowa and across the country will begin in January 2018 to monitor for 30 contaminants that are suspected of being present in drinking water, but currently not regulated by the EPA.

Under the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) amendments, every five years the EPA issues a new list of no more than 30 contaminants that public water providers are required to monitor through regular testing.

The State Hygienic Laboratory was the only laboratory in Iowa that provided testing for the UCMR 3 program (2013-2015), and will accommodate testing for all 30 contaminants specified in UCMR 4. The laboratory anticipates that it will provide this testing beginning in January 2018 and continuing through 2020.

As part of SDWA, the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 4), applies to public water systems that serve more than 10,000 clients. A few randomly selected smaller communities also will participate in UCMR 4, representing systems with less than 10,000 clients.

When testing is complete, the EPA compiles results of all participating water supplies and posts a cumulative report on its website. Rules for previous years (UCMR 1, 2 and 3) also are currently available.

This data is used to indicate if particular contaminants should be regulated in the interest of public health. EPA considers occurrence data of contaminants in drinking water, the number of people potentially exposed, and the estimated level of exposure in making this determination.

The Hygienic Laboratory works with clients to meet UCMR 4 requirements by

  1. Ensuring samples are collected according to acceptance criteria prior to testing;
  2. Conducting UCMR 4 testing following the required EPA methods;
  3. Posting results to the EPA’s Central Data Exchange within the required 120 days of sample collection; and
  4. Providing testing results directly to each client in addition to the EPA.

More information about UCMR 4 is available on the Hygienic Laboratory website and by contacting the following:

Sherri Marine, Client Services: Sherri-marine@uiowa.edu, 319-335-4500 or 1-800-421-4692
Client Services, including price quotes, scheduling, shipping sample bottles

Lisa Limkemann, UCMR 4 program manager: Lisa-limkemann@uiowa.edu, 319-335-4328
Testing, sampling and other technical questions