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Source: Reuters
US airlines will be required to regularly disinfect and monitor
on-board drinking water systems under a new rule unveiled.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has for the first time
tailored existing public water monitoring regulations to commercial
aircraft.
The change, five years in the making and affecting 63 airlines and
7,300 planes, will replace interim systems for monitoring bacteria
and other pathogens that could sicken passengers.
The EPA expects the annual cost to the industry to be about $9.5
million.
Airlines have 18 months to develop maintenance plans that comply
with the standards.
Regulators found in 2004 that some US airlines were not in
compliance with general clean water standards, mainly because
existing EPA rules did not specifically cover on-board water
systems.
The EPA ordered dozens of carriers to take steps to ensure that
drinking water aboard their planes was clean.
