Park Water Company (Park), an investor owned utility, began following the Ground Water Disinfection Rule (GWDR) in 1992 when USEPA published the Strawman GWDR. This paper outlines Park's experience with compliance. Through the Ground Water Rule (GWR) process, the workshops and team work group phone conferences have led to the accelerated research into the development of viral indicators for fecal contamination. As was evidenced at a workshop in Austin, Texas, it is very difficult to sway the US Environmental Protection Agency from the concept of Total Coliform as a useful indicator of fecal contamination. Hopefully, the industry will some day have a viable, inexpensive, viral tool to use to better protect public health. It became clear at an early date that this regulation would be a "small system" regulation with the major impacts occurring to these systems. It is because of this that it is even more discouraging that more utilities have not participated. Both USEPA and AWWA were unable to get the attention of rural water and small business associations to participate.