美国环境保护总署（Environmental Protection Agency，EPA）最近对158架美国民航客机的抽样测试发现，航班上约有13%的饮用水不符合环保署的标准，主要是因为机上的水被大肠杆菌等细菌污染。尽管此举遭到了各大航空公司的质疑和反驳，美政府与十几家航空公司于2004年11月9日达成协议，要求改善航班上的卫生设施，并增加对飞机上饮用水的测试。
外电报道如下：
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 every 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. In the meantime, passengers would find signs posted in the lavatories and galleys of affected aircraft.
Disinfect表示“消毒，灭菌”，例如：disinfect a wound（为伤口消毒）；Rigorous sanitation measures have been taken to disinfect SARS contaminated places and articles and we felt deeply that preventing infection within hospitals is of vital importance.（要采取严格的卫生措施对被非典病毒污染过的地方和物品进行消毒，我们深感在医院内部预防病毒传染的重要性。）
