Incompetence and believing fairy tales isn't limited to local governments. Read Ben's articles on PoolSolutions.com to get a full view of the irrationality of the chlorine recommendations...they don't realize that level of chlorine in drinking water that they consider to be safe is HIGHER than the levels they consider to be safe in swimming pools.

I suspect it's mostly due to being poorly funded, not a very "sexy" topic, and being fed info by the chem companies who want it to stay that way.