The fundamental mission of the Water Survey’s Environmental Public Health, Information, and Data Services (EPHIDS) section is two-fold. The first mission is protecting and improving public health as it relates to drinking water quality and waterborne contamination. In this pursuit, EPHIDS conducts research to develop a better understanding of the relationship between source water protection and public health protection; provides technical assistance and training to reduce and eliminate public health disparities for water users around the country; and directly supports the public on issues related to private wells, drinking water quality, and source water contamination, as they relate to public health protection.
Secondly, EPHIDS provides data to decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public to allow for data-driven decision-making related to water quantity, water quality, and understanding of complex hydrologic and hydraulic systems. In particular, EPHIDS collects, monitors, and disseminates long-term data pertaining to groundwater, surface water, and atmospheric conditions. Data related to well construction, high-capacity water use, source water quality, groundwater levels and atmospheric resources are recorded and kept continuously, providing a unique and useful resource of current and historical information.
