Rhode Island § 46-14-1 - Contamination of Drinking Water

§ 46-14-1. Contamination of drinking water sources prohibited.

Bathing, swimming, discharge of any sewage or drainage or refuse or polluting matter which may pollute or corrupt or impair the purity or quality of a public drinking water supply or which renders the water supply injurious to health or poses a potential significant risk to public health and any activity which leads to such discharge in, or on, or in the immediate vicinity of any water body used as a source of public drinking water supply shall be prohibited. In addition, any other activity in or on or in the immediate vicinity of any water body used as a source of public drinking water supply which the director of the department of health deems to render the water supply injurious to health or to pose a potential significant risk to public health shall be prohibited or restricted. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be penalized pursuant to the provisions of § 46-14-8. The prohibition against bathing shall not apply to any camp or bathing resort located on a known tributary of any of the above-mentioned waters if such camp or bathing resort was licensed by the department of health prior to June 20, 1968.