The EPA on Wednesday reported to be in process of releasing guidance to the utilities so as to explain them the procedure to test for the chemical in tap water.

In addition, the agency promised to facilitate technical assistance to the 31 cities picked up in the survey - including Washington and Bethesda. The survey was conducted by Environmental Working Group.

The agency aims to establish a robust monitoring and sampling process for testing the presence of hexavalent chromium, a likely carcinogen, in U. S. tap water.

Highest levels of chromium-6 contamination has been found in the taps waters of Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Riverside, Calif; Madison, Wis.; and San Jose, Calif.

"The first step is to understand the prevalence of this problem”, George Hawkins, the general manager of D. C. Water posted. "While the EWG study was informative, it only provided a snapshot in time. EPA will work with local and state officials to get a better picture of exactly how widespread this problem is".

The findings obtained by the survey were pondered over in a joint tabling by the EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and 10 senators representing some of the 31 communities held on Tuesday.