The Water Quality Association (WQA)-backed Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate today (July 23) by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and in the House by U.S. Reps. David Rouzer (R-NC) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME). The bill, commonly known as the Healthy H2O Act, offers federal grants for water quality testing and certified treatment technology in rural and underserved communities, including those who rely on private wells.

“We applaud our bipartisan group of congressional champions for introducing The Healthy H2O Act, which will increase access to water treatment technology for rural communities that are uncertain about how to treat emerging health contaminants,” said WQA CEO Pauli Undesser, MWS. “Consulting qualified professionals and using certified point-of-use and point-of-entry filtration systems can play a crucial role in providing proven solutions.”

The act would help rural and underserved communities by authorizing a new U.S. Department of Agriculture grant program to cover the costs of water quality testing and the purchase, installation, and maintenance of POU/POE water filtration systems certified to address health-based contaminants found in drinking water. Funding would go directly to individuals, licensed child-care facilities, and non-profits that are equipped to help people go through the process of testing and then finding and installing a water treatment product to address their situation.

The same four lawmakers previously introduced the bill in the 118^th Congress, where it received the support of 50 bipartisan co-sponsors, including several key members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. The bill was included in Democratic and Republican-led frameworks for the Senate Farm Bill, and a version of the legislation was included in the House Farm Bill text that was advanced favorably out of the Agriculture Committee.

More than 35 organizations have joined WQA in publicly supporting the bill, including the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, National Ground Water Association, International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, International Code Council, Water Systems Council, NSF International, and DigDeep.

More information on the bill, including the full text of the legislation and a one-page explainer sheet, is available at wqa.org/healthyh2O.