Keep Our Water Clean: Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act has made advances to our society that have helped our environment to flourish with life. The objective of the Act when it was enacted in 1972 was to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's water. This objective was accompanied by other statutory goals to eliminate the discharge of pollutants into waters used by boats by 1985 and to attain waters deemed “fishable or swimmable” by 1983. So far, the Act has done exactly what it was meant to do. Its purpose is being served and we our benefiting wit