 About
DWA
What is the Drinking Water Academy?
The Drinking Water Academy (DWA) provides training and information to
help EPA, States, Tribes, and others increase their capability to implement
the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments. Training will, in turn,
promote better compliance and encourage greater public health protection.
The Academy will develop courses designed to meet the training needs of
the Public Water System Supervision, Underground Injection Control, and
Drinking Water Source Water Protection programs.
What is the mission of the Drinking Water Academy?
The mission of the Drinking Water Academy is to assist EPA, States and
Tribes in enhancing their program capability to successfully carry out
the goals and requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Why is the Drinking Water Academy needed?
The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act pose implementation
challenges to EPA, States, Tribes, and water systems. These challenges
include adopting new regulations and other program requirements, establishing
stronger drinking water source prevention programs, and developing a new
infrastructure financing program to provide systems with a source of lower
cost financing to make infrastructure improvements. The 1996 Amendments
also place a great emphasis on involving the public in developing and
implementing of the program. New and more comprehensive training
efforts are necessary to meet these important public health protection
goals of the Act.
Who benefits from the Drinking Water Academy?
The benefits of the Drinking Water Academy are widespread and extend
to EPA personnel, State and Tribal officials, and the public. EPA, States,
and Tribes are responsible for overseeing and implementing the Safe Drinking
Water Act and Amendments. Initially, the primary focus of training will
be EPA Headquarters, Regions, and States. Tribal programs will benefit
immediately since they rely on EPA Headquarters and Regions for support
and guidance in implementing the program. EPA will later extend Academy
training to directly serve Tribes. The public will benefit from
the Academy since EPA, States, and Tribes will become better equipped
to implement programs that support the objective of providing safe and
affordable drinking water.
 How
are materials for the Drinking Water Academy being developed?
EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water has established
an advisory board of EPA Headquarters and
Regional staff and State representatives. The work group identifies training
needs, establishes priorities, and helps to develop all training materials
for the Academy. The work group also identifies existing training materials
and potential trainers and training sites.
What training needs does the Drinking Water Academy address?
The Academy is designed to address the needs of drinking water program
staff administering the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS), Underground
Injection Control (UIC), and Ground Water/Source Water Protection (GW/SWP)
programs. The DWA work group has identified some specific training needs
within these programs. Additional training needs will evolve as implementation
deadlines draw near and new regulatory responsibilities emerge.
What training courses are currently available?
The Academy presently offers 49 courses in ten topic areas: Safe Drinking
Water Act Overview, National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, Public
Water System Operation, Public Water System Supervision Implementation,
Sanitary Survey, Source Water Protection, Underground Injection Control,
Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), Laboratory Certification,
and General Interest. For more information about the courses, see the
DWA Course Catalog.
If your State or Region is interested in hosting a Drinking Water Academy
training course, see the DWA Course Catalog
for the contact for each course, or contact Jamie Bourne at (202) 564-4095,
bourne.james@epa.gov.
How does training take place?
In the short-term, a majority of training will take place in the form
of training classes and workshops, which may incorporate some field work
or audio-visual material. The Sanitary Survey and Comprehensive
Performance Evaluation courses will include extensive field work, and
may include inspections of public water systems. Trainers have extensive
experience and expertise with specific drinking water programs.
How can I access training materials?
A regularly updated Calendar
of Course Offerings and Course Catalog are
available on this Web site. In addition, EPA will post participant manuals
or other materials from some courses in the Electronic
Workshop as materials are developed.
 What
other types of information resources are available?
The Academy intends to use other methods to provide information to drinking
water professionals, including a quarterly bulletin. EPA developed and
distributed the first quarterly DWA Bulletin
in January 1999 to introduce EPA Regions and States to the Academy and
provide a schedule of upcoming training sessions.
The ninth issue of the DWA Bulletin was published in October
2001. You may contact the EPA Office of Water Resource
Center for more information or copies of specific documents. The Center
can be reached 24 hours a day at (202) 260-7786, or send an e-mail to
center.water-resource@epa.gov.
The Academy is working in partnership with a number of organizations
that are part of the drinking water community. Our Training
Partners Web page lists and describes these organizations and provides
links to their Web sites for additional information.
How can I obtain more information?
For more information on the Drinking Water Academy, contact
us directly or call James Bourne at (202) 564-4095. For general information,
call the Safe Drinking Water Act hotline at (800) 426-4791. You can download
an Adobe PDF version of the Drinking Water Academy Fact
Sheet.
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