EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water teamed with staff from EPA Regions 8, 9, and 10 to create a recommended practices factsheet: Addressing Contamination of Drinking Water Distribution Systems from VOCs After Wildfires. This factsheet features practices and lessons-learned from drinking water utilities impacted by wildfires that had elevated levels of several Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), such as benzene, in water mains, service connections, and building fixtures, which complicated and slowed community recovery efforts. The document is intended for public water systems and may also benefit private water systems and well owners. It describes how VOC contamination may occur, contamination sampling strategies, mitigation techniques, and potential mutual aid and funding options. This resource, along with a Wildfire Incident Action Checklist and Effects of Wildfire on Drinking Water Utilities and Best Practices for Wildfire Risk Reduction and Mitigation report, is featured on EPA’s Water Security Division website at Building Wildfire Resilience for Water and Wastewater Utilities.
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