About The Office of Ground Water & Drinking Water

OGWDW, together with states, tribes, and our many partners, will protect public health by ensuring safe drinking water and protecting ground water.

We will accomplish this mission using the following principles: 

Prevention as an effective approach; 

Risk-based priority setting for new and existing regulations, based on sound science, quality data in reliable databases, and quality methods and standards; 

Partnership and involvement of public and private organizations, citizens, and communities; 

Flexibility and effectiveness in implementation while maintaining a national public health baseline; 

Accountability of all parties through public participation and accessible information; and 

Results documented and presented clearly.

The Office works closely with EPA's Regional Offices. 

Targeting and Analysis Branch
Activities: develops regulatory tools in the areas of drinking water treatment technologies, analytical methods, cost/ benefit analysis, contaminant identification and occurrence; and develops regulations for individual chemical contaminants in drinking water such as radon, arsenic, and emerging new contaminants. 

Technical Support Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 
Activities: provides technical and scientific support to the development and implementation of drinking water regulations; manages Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule implementation and drinking water laboratory certification program; supports Partnership for Safe Water, treatment plant optimization and analytical methods development. 

Standards and Risk Reduction Branch
Activities: develops drinking water regulations for microbial contaminants and disinfection by-products, including modeling, data collection, assessment, and policy development. 

Protection Branch
Activities: responsible for implementation of the Public Water Supply System program, including operator certification, small systems technical assistance, chemical monitoring, and the tribal program. 

Prevention Branch
Activities: responsible for implementation of the source water assessment and protection program, including wellhead protection, comprehensive state ground water protection, and the sole source aquifer program, and the Underground Injection Control program. 

Infrastructure Branch
Activities: maintains information on drinking water through computer databases and the Internet, responsible for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and works to promote consumer awareness of safe drinking water issues. 

Office Mail, Phone, & Fax information

For General Inquiries: Safe Drinking Water Hotline

1 - 800 - 426 - 4791

Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (4601)

Mailing address: 
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460-0003

Street address: 
EPA East
1201 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20460-0003

Phone:  202-564-3750
Fax:  202-564-3753 (Director's office)
Fax:  202-564-3751 (Drinking Water Protection Division)
Fax:  202-564-3752 (Standards and Risk Management Division) 

Technical Support Center:
U.S. EPA 
26 Martin Luther King Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
Phone:  513-569-7948
Fax:  513-569-7191

E-mail addresses for EPA staff take the form of lastname.firstname@epa.gov