US EPA reaches agreement regarding safe drinking water with 11 airlines

Airline Industry Information, Oct 20, 2005

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Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines are among 11 domestic United States airlines that have reached an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency regarding safe drinking water.

The agreement covers safe drinking water for crews and passengers during flights. According to a federal investigation, total coliform contamination was found in 15% of the 327 flights from 19 airports tested last year. Total coliform contamination indicates disease pathogens in water, the Pacific Business News reported.

Under the terms of the agreement, airlines have to monitor the water quality aboard aircraft on a regular basis and notify the agency and the public when it is found that the samples contain contamination. The airlines also have to regularly disinfect the aircraft water systems and the equipment for water transfer as well as investigate possible sources of contamination outside the aircraft.

Keoni Wagner, spokesman for Hawaiian Airlines, said that the airline has been testing its water for years and never found any contamination and that the equipment and procedures used by the company exceed the requirement in the guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency.

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