Concern in the United States over water pollution dates back to the 1899 Federal Rivers and Harbors Act�the Refuse Act�which prevents any refuse disposal from entering any lakes, navigable rivers, streams, or any other body of water without a permit. In 1948 the Water Pollution Control Act gave the Surgeon General authority to reduce water pollution, with water being considered contaminated when it was unfit to support human life and is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants. To maintain the control of water pollution, this act was established to regulate the pollutant discharges into the U.S. waters, regulating the standards for quality surface waters. Implementing specific water pollutant programs, a water quality standard was developed for all surface water contaminants�beginning with setting industry standards for wastewater�making it illegal to allow any point-source pollutant enter navigable water without a permit.
The control of water pollution begins with a source or point-of-origin that are divided into categories: point-source pollution refers to some form of contaminant that enters the waters through a subtle or discreet point source; the non-point source pollution refers to a contamination which originates from a not-so-subtle or discrete source–with more attention being derived from point sources. Legislature and control of water pollution agencies have primarily focused on point sources at the beginning, but lately greater attention is on non-point sources because of the rapid spread of urbanization and suburbanization of developing areas. Homes that are not connected to a public municipal system use septic systems of some form, while industrial or municipal industries require permits for their discharges to enter directly into surface waters.