Contaminants

The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) tests for numerous contaminants. The Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Act requires that we test for more than 90 contaminants both before and after treatment and in the distribution system.

SNWA goes above and beyond the requirements to test for unregulated parasites, pathogens and viruses such as the following:

Bacterial Pathogens

• Salmonella
• Vibrio cholerae
• Shigella
• Campylobacter
• Listeria monocytogenes
• Mycobacterium avium/intracellulare
• Legionella pneumophila
• Aeomonans hydrophila
• E. coli 0157:H7
• Yersinina enterocolitica

Protozoan Parasites

• Giardia lamblia
• Cryptosporidium

Viruses

• Culturable viruses
• Enteroviruses
• Hepatitis A Virus
• Small Round Structure Viruses

Surrogate Indicators of Contamination

• Bacillus sp.—surrogate for Cryptosporidium
• Male Specific Coliphage—surrogate for viruses
• Somatic Coliphage—surrogate for viruses
• Clostridium perfringens—surrogate for Cryptosporidium