自从美国环境保护署 （美国环保局）颁布了《安全饮用水法》 1974年，一个越来越复杂的系列 规则制定的变化改变了美国的饮用水状况 监管计划陷入错综复杂的要求 由庞大的行政上层建筑支撑。 此外，随着SDWA的每次修订 适用于饮用水监管的范式 污染物已经转移。财务和人事 实施和合规带来的要求 由于现有的和即将出台的规则，市场变得紧张 有限的水资源、国家机构和 美国环保局本身。 除了总结当前的监管 程序中，本文描绘了拼凑而成的被子 第2阶段缺陷/消毒中规定的要求 副产品规则和其他即将出台的法规。 非传统的供水方式是 发现这比治疗更经济 所有的水都通过管道输送到配水系统中 美国环保局监管标准。然而，这种 方法-双分销系统，使用点 设备和进入点治疗，以及 不同品质的水，以满足不同的客户 需求——可能引发更多监管和道德规范 以及法律问题。 虽然保护了国家的公共用水 系统是一项有价值且绝对必要的任务 复杂的监管框架和行政管理 支持这一目标的结构有倒塌的危险 在他们自己的重量和超越下 大型和小型水系统的资源。 除非饮用水法规及其实施 都是流线型的，长期有效 而美国监管计划的可行性可能会下降 仍然处于危险之中。包括27个参考文献、表格和图表。

Since the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA) in 1974, an increasingly complex series of rulemakings has transformed the US drinking water regulatory program into a labyrinth of requirements supported by a vast administrative superstructure. Furthermore, with each amendment of the SDWA, the paradigm applied to the regulation of drinking water contaminants has shifted. The financial and personnel demands imposed by implementation and compliance with existing and upcoming rules have strained the limited resources of water utilities, state agencies, and USEPA itself. In addition to summarizing the current regulatory program, this article delineates the patchwork quilt of requirements specified in the Stage 2 Disfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rule and other upcoming regulations. Unconventional approaches to water supply are identified that would be more economical than treating all water piped into the distribution system to strict USEPA regulatory standards. However, such approaches - dual distribution systems, point-of-use devices and point-of-entry treatment, and delivery of water of differing qualities to meet different customer needs - could trigger more regulations as well as ethical and legal issues. Although safeguarding the nation's public water system is a worthy and absolute imperative, the complex regulatory framework and administrative structure supporting this goal are in danger of collapsing under their own weight and outstripping the resources of large and small water systems. Unless drinking water regulations and their implementation are streamlined, the long-term efficacy and viability of the US regulatory program may remain at risk. Includes 27 references, tables, figures.