Office of Drinking Water Quality

Public Drinking Water

The definition of a public water system is a system for the provision to the public of piped water for human consumption, provided such system has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year. Public water systems range in size from the Providence Water Supply Board, which serves about 500,000 residents, to small rural non-community transient systems, such as restaurants and convenience stores that utilize wells as their drinking water source. Fifty-six percent of the regulated water systems are food establishments with their own supply wells.