Drinking Water Data Management

We live in an information-rich society whose demands for timely and accurate data touch every aspect of our lives – from the number of steps we take a day to the complex algorithms that provide us with location-specific weather forecasts up to the minute. As demands for data transparency and access focus increasingly on public health and individual wellness, the importance of high-quality environmental and public health data, too, grows. As easy as it is to check for rain in the next hour or have a cup of coffee delivered to our doors, how accessible is information about the water quality coming from our taps?

ASDWA Priorities

Rebuilding trust in our nation’s drinking water starts with high-quality data that is robust, accurate, and accessible to the communities we serve.

Effective data management plays a critical role in helping states and EPA advance their mission to protect public health by ensuring that high-quality data support environmental and public health programs and decisions. 

ASDWA members’ goal is to work with EPA and our partners to support water sector initiatives that seek to improve drinking water data quality, accuracy, completeness, and transparency. Further, to engage with those who use or are interested in drinking water data to meet these ends.

The Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS)

SDWIS manages information about PWSs and their violations of the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs). The importance of SDWIS to the drinking water program cannot be understated. This software suite enables primacy agencies to manage water system inventory information, receive and collect system compliance monitoring data, manage sampling and monitoring schedules, determine candidate NPDWR violations, and track enforcement activity. It also provides tools to assist with required quarterly reporting of violations, inventory, and actions data to EPA’s SDWIS Fed database. While SDWIS has served the national drinking water program for decades, it requires modernization.

EPA has partnered with states to replace the aging SDWIS with a new application suite capable of effectively managing the ever-growing volume and complexity of data that the national drinking water program demands.

 
Looking for more information on SDWIS Modernization?
ASDWA maintains a SDWIS User Community with resources for SDWIS users, including access to SDWIS software and documentation, as well as information about the modernization effort. Submit a Login Request Form to obtain credentials. 

  

Drinking Water Data News

Articles from ASDWA's News Feed
The Water Data Community Assembles for Another Successful Data Management Users Conference

The Water Data Community Assembles for Another Successful Data Management Users Conference

Last week, ASDWA and EPA hosted the annual Data Management Users Conference (DMUC) in Old Town Alexandria, bringing primacy agencies...

EPA Webinar on Turning Water Data into Public Information

EPA Webinar on Turning Water Data into Public Information

On Tuesday, September 6, 2022, from 1:30 –3:30 pm (eastern time), EPA will host a webinar on “Turning Water Data...

USGS 2022 Funding and Information Sessions for National Ground-Water Monitoring Network

USGS 2022 Funding and Information Sessions for National Ground-Water Monitoring Network

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will award up to $1.7 million in cooperative agreements to support participation in the National...

Register for ASDWA’s 2021 Data Management Users Conference!

Register for ASDWA’s 2021 Data Management Users Conference!

Join ASDWA and EPA for the 2021 Data Management Users Conference (DMUC). The main conference broadcasts, scheduled from September 21...