The Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act, also known as the Healthy H2O Act, has been put forth in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. The bill would provide grants for water testing and the purchase of certified treatment technology directly to individuals, non-profits, and local governments in rural communities.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the Healthy H2O Act in the Senate on April 26, 2022, and the House bill was introduced on June 9, 2022, by U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and David Rouzer (R-N.C.).
“We applaud Senator Baldwin for introducing The Healthy H2O Act to get effective water treatment technology directly to the people who need it most,” said WQA Executive Director Pauli Undesser, MWS, ACE. “Point-of-use and point-of-entry filtration can be especially helpful to rural areas whose households rely primarily on private wells, might need help dealing with newly discovered contaminants in their communities, and have often been overlooked by recent federal investments.”
The House differs from the Senate version in that it expands eligible rural communities for this grant to those with up to 10,000 in population, an increase from the USDA regulation default of 2,500.
The bill is supported by more than 20 other associations, including WQA.