Viewpoint: Yes, while not perfect, current U.S. drinking water standards are sufficient, and new government regulations continue to improve these standards.

Viewpoint: No, current U.S. drinking water standards are not sufficient and must be improved to ensure public health.

Every day the average U.S. citizen uses 100 gal (380 l) of water; every year, the average household uses 100,000 gal (380,000 l) of water; and every day Americans drink more than one billion glasses of water. All of this water comes from many sources and, because different treatment methods are used, the quality of drinking water varies throughout the country.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, water experts consider U.S. drinking water to be generally safe. But during the nineteenth century, diseases like cholera and typhoid could be traced to the U.S...