How can I reduce my exposure and my family’s exposure?

If you get drinking water from a public drinking supply, your town or water district is required to test the water routinely and will send you a yearly report that tells you if they are meeting EPA standards for TCE in drinking water. If you have a private well, the water can be tested before or just after it enters the house or at the tap—especially if water treatment units are in place. The water samples are sent to a laboratory to test for TCE and it usually takes a few weeks to get results. Test results are compared to guidelines to see if there may be a health concern from drinking the water. State or federal agencies may use the results to make clean-up decisions.