The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Safe
Water Drinking Act and its amendments set the standards for public
drinking water supplies. The EPA ensures that these standards are met.
Employees at the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA)
treatment facilities collect and analyze hundreds of water samples from
throughout the Las Vegas Valley.
The Safe Drinking Water Act requires water purveyors to
test for nearly 100 chemicals, radiological and bacteriological contaminants.
SNWA staff members test more frequently and extensively than the Safe
Drinking Act requires.
Seawater Desalination
Future water supplies for Southern Nevada could be obtained by paying
for desalinization facilities in California in return for the use of a
portion of California's Colorado River water allocation. Currently, the
high cost of desalinization doesn't make this option viable. As technology
improves, however, this may become a possible resource.
