EPA Approves 10 Alternative Test Procedures for Drinking Water

In a recent Federal Register Notice, EPA approved 10 alternative test procedures for contaminants listed in the drinking water regulations. These procedures have been determined by EPA to be as effective as the methods already established in the regulations for the same contaminants. EPA has used its streamlined approval authority to make these 10 alternative methods available for determining contaminant concentrations in samples collected under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Methods approved under the expedited approval process are referenced in Appendix A to Subpart C of Part 141 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The listing is also available HERE.

EPA has made the 10 optional, alternative methods listed below available for determining contaminant concentrations in samples collected under SDWA:

Method – Contaminant(s)
EPA Method 536 – Atrazine, simazine
EPA Method 523 – Atrazine, simzine
EPA Method 525.3 – Alachlor, atrazine, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), benzo(a)pyrene, chlordane, di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, endrin, lindane, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorocyclopentadiene, methoxychlor, pentachlorophenol, simazine, toxaphene
EPA Method 1623.1 – Cryptosporidium
Standard Method 3125 (Standard Methods, 21st Edition) – Uranium
Standard Method 3112 B-09 (Standard Methods Online) – Mercury
ASTM Method D859-10 – Silica
ASTM Method D1179-10 B – Fluoride
ASTM Method D5673-10 – Uranium
ASTM Method D6239-09 – Uranium