Deal struck to improve airline water quality

WASHINGTON – The government and a dozen airlines struck a deal Tuesday requiring sanitation improvements and increased testing of drinking water aboard aircraft after officials found evidence of harmful bacteria in the water of one in eight planes tested.

At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would perform random water-quality tests on 169 domestic and international passenger aircraft at 14 airports throughout the United States and publish the results by the end of the year.

If coliform bacteria are discovered, the airliners will have to be disinfected within 24 hours unless the agency grants an extension because the plane involved is outside the United States.