Ten-Year Drinking Water Violation Trends in Small and Mid-Size Systems in Northeast Tennessee: Preliminary Results
Abstract
Small and rural drinking water systems frequently struggle to meet Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements due to limited staffing, aging infrastructure, and complex regulatory monitoring requirements. This project evaluated ten-year regulatory compliance patterns among small and medium Community Water Systems (CWSs) in Northeast Tennessee to determine whether administrative constraints, rather than treatment failures, primarily drive noncompliance. We hypothesized that Monitoring and Reporting (MR) violations would constitute most violations and cluster in counties with many small systems. A longitudinal analysis of 2013–2024 Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) data was conducted in R to categorize violations by type, contaminant class, and health-based status, and to integrate county-level metrics, including population served and the number of water systems. Results strongly supported the hypothesis: MR violations accounted for 68.7% of all violations (3,991 of 5,810), whereas health-based violations, including Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) exceedances and Treatment Technique (TT) failures, represented only 15.3% of total violations. TT violations accounted for 9.36%, MCL violations for 5.95%, and monitoring-only violations for 0.67%. Health-based violations were geographically concentrated in Johnson, Greene, Hawkins, and Sullivan counties, reflecting localized treatment and infrastructure vulnerabilities. Disinfection by-product violations exhibited recurring cyclical spikes across the study period, with notable peaks observed in 2014, 2021, and 2023. Counties with numerous small systems, particularly Greene, Carter, Hawkins, and Johnson, experienced disproportionately high administrative burdens. Overall, the findings indicate that noncompliance in rural Appalachian systems is primarily driven by administrative capacity constraints rather than widespread chemical contamination. Strengthening operator staffing, improving existing treatment infrastructure, and providing targeted technical assistance to address evolving SDWA regulations could substantially improve compliance and reduce environmental health disparities across the region.
Start Time
15-4-2026 11:00 AM
End Time
15-4-2026 12:00 PM
Room Number
304
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Presentation Subtype
Grad/Comp Orals
Presentation Category
Health
Student Type
Graduate
Faculty Mentor
Md Rasheduzzaman
Ten-Year Drinking Water Violation Trends in Small and Mid-Size Systems in Northeast Tennessee: Preliminary Results
304
Small and rural drinking water systems frequently struggle to meet Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements due to limited staffing, aging infrastructure, and complex regulatory monitoring requirements. This project evaluated ten-year regulatory compliance patterns among small and medium Community Water Systems (CWSs) in Northeast Tennessee to determine whether administrative constraints, rather than treatment failures, primarily drive noncompliance. We hypothesized that Monitoring and Reporting (MR) violations would constitute most violations and cluster in counties with many small systems. A longitudinal analysis of 2013–2024 Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) data was conducted in R to categorize violations by type, contaminant class, and health-based status, and to integrate county-level metrics, including population served and the number of water systems. Results strongly supported the hypothesis: MR violations accounted for 68.7% of all violations (3,991 of 5,810), whereas health-based violations, including Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) exceedances and Treatment Technique (TT) failures, represented only 15.3% of total violations. TT violations accounted for 9.36%, MCL violations for 5.95%, and monitoring-only violations for 0.67%. Health-based violations were geographically concentrated in Johnson, Greene, Hawkins, and Sullivan counties, reflecting localized treatment and infrastructure vulnerabilities. Disinfection by-product violations exhibited recurring cyclical spikes across the study period, with notable peaks observed in 2014, 2021, and 2023. Counties with numerous small systems, particularly Greene, Carter, Hawkins, and Johnson, experienced disproportionately high administrative burdens. Overall, the findings indicate that noncompliance in rural Appalachian systems is primarily driven by administrative capacity constraints rather than widespread chemical contamination. Strengthening operator staffing, improving existing treatment infrastructure, and providing targeted technical assistance to address evolving SDWA regulations could substantially improve compliance and reduce environmental health disparities across the region.
