The Public Water Supply Section of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's Bureau of Water is charged with regulating all public water supply systems in the state to ensure safe drinking water. The section oversees more than 1,000 public water supply systems including municipalities, rural water districts, and privately owned systems. These systems may serve small communities of several families or cities of more than 300,000 persons.

In the State of Kansas, a public water supply system is defined by Kansas Statutes Annotated (K.S.A.) 65-162a and Kansas Administrative Regulations (K.A.R.) 28-15a-2 as a "system for delivery to the public of piped water for human consumption that has at least 10 service connections or regularly serves at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year." These systems are regulated by the state to assure the citizenry safe and pathogen-free drinking water. Private domestic/residential groundwater wells are not considered public water supply systems and are not regulated by the section.