By Cris Carl, Networx There are several towns in the U.S. that
have a high standard of water quality, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency. These towns include Aspen and
Vail, Colo., Georgetown, Texas, and Gatlinburg, Tenn. These
towns, by luck and by design, are well situated within healthy
watersheds that have a low possibility of becoming polluted.
There are a number of important factors involved in the creation
of clean, healthy drinking water. First of all, water supplies
come from underground (aquifers), lakes, rivers, and sometimes
desalinated sea water. Water is purified and disinfected with
chlorine. Then the treated water flows either by pipes or
gravity to reservoirs or water tanks. Once the water goes down
the drain and into a sewer system, it is then treated and
released back into a body of water or is used for agricultural
or industrial purposes. In order to have a reliable and
continuous source of clean water, free of disease pathogens,
municipalities need to have certain standards