Key Objectives:
- Provide an overview of recent activities of CDC’s Health Studies Branch Private Well Community of Practice (CoP)
- Gather input regarding the expansion of the CoP to include drinking water issues beyond private wells
- Discuss how the CoP can evolve to be more useful to public health departments
- Summarize the CSTE Drinking Water Assessment results
Brief Summary:
With approximately 15% of the United States population relying on private wells for drinking water, addressing the need for clean and safe water for these unregulated drinking water sources is critical to public health. With over 150 members from state and local health departments, universities, non-governmental organizations, and federal agencies, the Private Well Community of Practice (CoP) is a diverse group of professionals involved and/or interested in the subject of private wells. Developed as a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Clean Water for Health (CWH) Program, the CoP has historically focused on sharing members’ experiences and best practices with regards to assessing exposures and health effects, public education and outreach, and mitigation strategies focused on improving private well water quality in the United States. The CDC’s Health Studies Branch (HSB) CWH Program is focused on improving scientific understanding of exposure to and health risks and outcomes related to drinking water by engaging in capacity building, research, and dissemination of results. HSB proposes to expand the focus of the CoP to include drinking water-related topics beyond private wells. In this round table session, moderators will solicit feedback from participants to identify priority drinking water issues that should be included in the CoP. Additionally, the roundtable session will serve as a forum to discuss measures to increase state, local, territorial, and tribal public health department and other stakeholders’ involvement in the CoP, as HSB seeks to identify public health priorities and needs related to drinking water. Additionally, CSTE will present results from a recent drinking water assessment that was developed to identify priority non-infectious drinking water issues and needs. Ultimately, the roundtable session will provide an opportunity for current and future CoP members to engage in in-person discussion regarding drinking water issues. The expected outcomes of this session are to develop a strategy to improve member involvement, identify priority drinking water issues that the CoP can address, inform future directions of the CoP, and to disseminate the CSTE drinking water assessment results.