Drinking Water Hazards

The quality of drinking water is paramount for public health. Despite important improvements in the last decades, access to safe drinking water is not universal. The World Health Organization estimates that almost 10% of the population in the world do not have access to improved drinking water sources. Among other diseases, waterborne infections cause diarrhea, which kills nearly one million people every year, mostly children under 5 years of age. On the other hand, chemical pollution is a concern in high-income countries and an increasing problem in low- and middle-income countries. Exposure to chemicals in drinking water may lead to a range of chronic non-communicable diseases (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease), adverse reproductive outcomes, and effects on children’s health (e.g., neurodevelopment), among other health effects. Although drinking water quality is regulated and monitored in many countries, increasing knowledge leads to the need for reviewing standards and guidelines on a nearly permanent basis, both for regulated and newly identified contaminants. Drinking water standards are mostly based on animal toxicity data, and more robust epidemiologic studies with accurate exposure assessment are needed. The current risk assessment paradigm dealing mostly with one-by-one chemicals dismisses the potential synergisms or interactions from exposures to mixtures of contaminants, particularly at the low-exposure range. Thus, evidence is needed on exposure and health effects of mixtures of contaminants in drinking water. Finally, water stress and water quality problems are expected to increase in the coming years due to climate change and increasing water demand by population growth, and new evidence is needed to design appropriate adaptation policies. This Special Issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge on the links between drinking water quality and human health.

This volume describes the methods used in the surveillance of drinking water quality in the light of the special problems of small-community supplies, particularly in developing countries, and outlines the strategies necessary to ensure that surveillance is effective.

Discusses the dangers of water pollution and the health risks of bacterial and chemical contaminants in the public water supply

This is the third edition of the WHO's guidelines which are used by countries worldwide to set standards for the regulation of drinking water quality and effective approaches to water safety management. This revised edition has been updated to take account of recent developments in risk assessment and management. Topics discussed include: a framework for drinking water safety and discussion of the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, such as national regulators, water suppliers and independent surveillance agencies; guidance on microbial safety of drinking water through safety plans; new scientific information on chemicals, waterborne pathogens and individual chemical hazards of actual or potential concern. It also considers the application of the guidelines in specific circumstances, such as in emergencies and disasters, and to specific applications, such as bottled water. It also contains information on over 130 documents which substantiate or explain the content of the Guidelines, and on good practice guidance in achieving drinking-water safety.

A step-by-step handbook that explains how to sample your water, pick the right lab, choose inexpensive tests, interpret text results, and determine the correct home treatment method.

The most recent volume in the Drinking Water and Health series contains the results of a two-part study on the toxicity of drinking water contaminants. The first part examines current practices in risk assessment, identifies new noncancerous toxic responses to chemicals found in drinking water, and discusses the use of pharmacokinetic data to estimate the delivered dose and response. The second part of the book provides risk assessments for 14 specific compounds, 9 presented here for the first time.