Science and Technology to Ensure the Safety of the Nation’s Drinking Water

Abstract

Despite the weaknesses of damaged or outdated infrastructure, new advances in science and technology can be utilized to develop safe and reliable methods for monitoring and treating water systems to ensure clean drinking water. Responding to the Flint, Michigan water crisis that began in 2014, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) analyzed the causes of water contamination and how to prevent it. They offer several recommendations that direct federal agencies toward creating new research and development (R&D) strategies to apply technologies that monitor contaminants in the nation’s drinking-water systems.