The potentail costs of drinking water standards more restrictive than what credible science says is necessary to protect public health are staggering. California, Nevada and Arizona could be the states most impacted. Misguided standards would in effect create a “problem” where one does not really exist, forcing citizens, industry and government to incur significant expenses for new treatment plants, retrofitting existing treatment plants, purchasing additional water supplies, lowering reservoir levels and pumping more groundwater from existing sources. This substantial expense of resources would have no public health benefit.
To implement perchlorate compliance strategies would mean substantial costs for small water systems, with conceptual costs above $3 per 1,000 gallons for very small systems (serving less than 500 people). While the total costs for the MCL are low, the cost burden would be primarily placed on a small number of water systems and their customers.