What is the Clean Water Act (CWA) and How Does it Work?

In the midst of the fight against climate change, many remain cognizant of the negative effects of global warming, such as deteriorating air quality, excessive greenhouse gas emissions, and exorbitant amounts of waste in landfills – but many will forget about the importance of clean drinking water, which is where the Clean Water Act comes into play. 

What is the Clean Water Act, how does it work, and how does it help to ensure safe drinking water and viable water resources across the country?

The Clean Water Act, also known as CWA, works to create the regulations necessary to ensure basic quality and standards for water across the United States – such as by preventing unwanted pollutants in bodies of water. The premise of the Clean Water Act was approved back in 1948, and was originally  named the Federal Water Pollution Control Act before being revamped in 1972 and switching to the name of the Clean Water Act.  

Through the help of the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has been able to incorporate programs to regulate the effects of pollution on water resources – such as by setting standards for watersheds across the industry. In addition, the EPA has assisted in the creation of programs to help control other water standards, such as by creating nation-wide criteria recommendations for potential pollutants that could infiltrate surface water. In addition to preventing pollutants from obstructing the use of viable water to begin with, the Clean Water Act also made it illegal to emit pollutants into water sources without the correct permits. 

Ultimately, the Clean Water Act seeks to regulate untreated water across the United States and protect residents from the deleterious effects of contaminated water – and protect various bodies of water from pollution and destruction.

The Clean Water Act is responsible for controlling the quality of water by setting standards for how much waste can be emitted for different industries. In addition to this, the Clean Water Act also helps to create regulations in the event of more catastrophic predicaments, such as oil spills and the release of toxic chemicals. The Clean Water Act has accomplished this through the implementation of various programs designed to help regulate how water is treated. For instance, point-source pollution, which is discharged by sewers and factories or other sources with a specific origin, is also managed by one of the programs established by the Clean Water Act – known as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or NPDES. Another program under the Clean Water Act includes the National Pretreatment Program, which was created to help avoid how many pollutants could be discharged into the sewer system from industrial activity – which ultimately helps to ensure safety amongst wastewater-treatment plants. Bodies of water subject to the improvements to be provided by the Clean Water Act will be put on a list, and are meant to be attended to at a later date when all of the acting parties can organize a plan to effectively restore the body of water. 

How does the Clean Water Act help to improve the bodies of water suffering from the negative effects of pollution?

Several devastating incidents helped encourage the creation of the Clean Water Act in the first place, such as when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire back in 1969 due to pollution caused by excessive industrial activity.  

Since 1972, the Clean Water Act has helped to remove billions of pounds of pollutants from bodies of water across the United States, which have ultimately helped to provide safer and cleaner drinking water – which in turn benefit the health of Americans and various wildlife. The Clean Water Act has not only helped to reduce the depletion of freshwater resources, but it has also helped to improve the overall quality of life – as safer, less polluted water allows for recreational activities such as fishing and swimming to resume. The Clean Water Act made a huge step forward by requiring states to set clean water standards to protect uses such as swimming, fishing, and drinking, and for the regulation of pollution discharges.

However, one of the biggest ways the Clean Water Act has benefited the country is how it has encouraged other states to individually address water pollution, as before the Clean Water Act – few states had imposed their own regulations regarding restoration and preventative care for bodies of water. Without the Clean Water Act, the responsibility to ensure clean water would still solely be in the hands of the federal government.

The Clean Water Act hasn’t just helped to improve the environment or society – but the economy, too. Several industries wouldn’t be able to survive without viable water resources, including tourism, restaurants, recreational services, and most notably: agriculture. Even more so, as climate change continues to worsen – practices geared towards preserving water are becoming more imperative as excessive droughts continue to compromise the sparse water supply left.

The Clean Water Act has successfully helped to restore countless bodies of water across the United States – but what are some rivers and lakes that most may not realize were resurrected thanks to the Clean Water Act?

Before the Clean Water Act, the Charles River in Boston was inhabitable for marine life – until the EPA decided to make an effort to make the Charles River swimmable for both fish and people once again in 1995. Through the help of the Clean Water Act utilizing several state, federal, local agencies, and nonprofit institutions – the Charles River was restored by improving the quality of the water in the river with the use of technology to determine the strongest pollutants. 

This wasn’t an easy task, given the Charles River was flooded with pollutants, trash, toxic mechanical pieces from old cars, and sewage elements. Many would be unable to guess that the Charles River was once a threat to the health of living organisms and the environment, but with the help of the Clean Water Act – Boston’s river can once again bring joy through recreational activities, provide a healthy home for fish, and cultivate safe water to be used across various industries.

Ultimately, the work of the Clean Water Act in combination with other entities and various sources of financial support have not only helped to re-instill beauty in the Charles River – but have helped to improve the health of both those living near the Charles River as well as the environment. 

Has the Clean Water Act been this beneficial for its other projects?

CWA is known to be one of the most successful pieces of environmental legislation to have ever been passed. The Clean Water Act has proven beneficial, as several municipalities across the United States have been granted funding to help rectify their wastewater-treatment plants due to the Clean Water Act’s work. In fact, the Clean Water Act was revised in 1987 to help accelerate the benefits of the Clean Water Act – such as by creating a new fund called the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund. The Clean Water Act has also been adjusted to adhere to the environmental problems presented with large bodies of water across the United States, such as the Great Salt Lake – which is drying out and releasing harmful substances, ultimately interfering with the surrounding air quality.  

It is clear that the Clean Water Act has made great strides in improving overall human health and protecting the environment, especially in conjunction with efforts from the Environmental Protection Agency. However, the Clean Water Act is still subject to several road blocks – such as controlling nonpoint-source pollution, mitigating the presence of motor oil in floods from rain, overflows in sewers, unsustainable infrastructure, and various sewage disposal issues that remain present throughout the industry.

In short, while there is ultimately less pollution going into bodies of water across the United States than before, especially thanks to new updated environmental measures implemented by the Biden administration, the Clean Water Act is still suffering from nonpoint sources of pollution.

Nonpoint sources of pollution is when pollution happens from rain or snow overflowing a landscape, and in turn, collecting various particles deemed as pollutants that can then flow into city streets or farmlands through sewers. An example of this is when there is an extensive amount of rain, and excess oil on the streets mixes in with the rainfall – which then drains into a city’s sewage system. Ultimately, nonpoint sources of pollution are a form of indirect pollution. This phenomenon is also referred to as polluted runoff, and remains as a major source of pollution for several bodies of water across the United States. 

The Clean Water Act has been around for over 50 years, and yet – there are still countless bodies of water that continue to suffer from the effects of pollution. It may seem improbable for the Clean Water Act to control these nonpoint sources of pollution, but if there was a greater collective effort to rectify the safety and cleanliness of water across the country – then the Clean Water Act wouldn’t have to work so hard.

One of the ways the Clean Water Act could improve is if more states continued to take individual action to rectify their bodies of water. For instance, if someone were to fall into the Potomac River (which cuts through the DMV area of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.) prior to the Clean Water Act – tetanus shots would have been required. If states set their own regulations separate from those required by the Clean Water Act, there wouldn’t be as many rivers, streams, or lakes desperate for rehabilitation by the Clean Water Act itself. 

The Clean Water Act isn’t a perfect regulation. CWA can’t override private property – meaning private bodies of water could still be polluted or filtering into sewer systems and impacting other industries. The Clean Water Act also doesn’t have the authority to monitor large areas of land, leaving these areas susceptible to the negative effects of contaminated water, too. In the end, the Clean Water Act would be most successful if other organizations, industries, and state governments played their part in ensuring the protection of clean and safe water.

If reading this article on the Clean Water Act, or CWA, has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!

The Clean Water Act, otherwise known as CWA, is just one of the many environmental regulations your company might have to comply with. Check out our legislation tracker here to see which rules your company has to adhere to.

Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.