- Reaction to California Bill initiative to regulate bacteria contamination

"Introduced by Assemblyman John Longville (D-Rialto), legislation originally intended to protect consumers from bacterial contamination in dental office waterlines could have consequences for manufacturers and sellers of water coolers, point-of-use (POU) filtration systems and a wide range of other water-dispensing products. Longville's 1999 version of the bill would only have applied to heterotrophic plate counts (HPC) in water from dental lines, establishing a limit of 200 colony forming units (CFUs) per milliliter, as per American Dental Association guidelines. 'During the past 30 years, more than a hundred scientific research papers have been published that document the high levels of bacteria and potentially life-threatening pathogens residing in dental water lines', says Margaret Johnson, a scientist with the Coalition for Safe Dental Water. 'Assemblyman Longville's efforts could serve as a template for legislators everywhere." A broadcast report on the ABC program '20/20' in February stated that water in dental lines tested throughout the United States contained more bacteria than sample water taken from public toilets. As public consciousness of the problem has grown in recent years, so has a specialty market for filtration and disinfection equipment designed for dental offices. For businesses involved in other segments of the POU and related industries, the implications of Longville's would-be law are less inviting. The scope of his bill, now Assembly Bill 2381, has been expanded to apply to any 'fluid-dispensing device', a phrase that could be construed to mean any residential faucet. ..A large class of microbe occuring naturally in the air. milk and many other common substances, HPC bacteria multiply on surfaces and media inside water treatment systems, including activated carbonand reverse osmosis units."

Amy Poe (News Editor) California bill highlights HPC issue in Water Technology, April 2000.