DRINKING WATER QUALITY GUIDELINES/REGULATIONS

• Water is essential to life and a nominal supply of clean-safe drinking water is

required for the sustenance of life.
• In developed nations, it is standard practice to provide the populace with
safe-reliable drinking water, as safe drinking water in most industrialized
countries is recognized as a basic human right and a cost effective measure
of reducing disease (i.e., preventative medicine).
• In developed countries, drinking water quality guidelines and regulations
are based on current, published-scientific research related to health effects,
aesthetic effects, and operational considerations. All these important
parameters aim at providing potable and palatable drinking water to reduce
water borne diseases and foster healthy living.
• The purpose of having drinking water quality guidelines and regulations is to
ensure that all human beings within a country have access to safe drinking
water. In developing countries, it is estimated that over 80% of disease is
caused by contaminated drinking water and as a consequence, over 30% of
work productivity is lost. Meaning, water is largely the cause of most disease
and a considerable amount of work potential is compromised because of
this.
 GUIDELINE VS. REGULATION – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

• First off, it’s important to understand the discrepancy between

the terms “guideline” and “regulation”, as this difference is
critically important.
• The term guideline, can be defined as follows: “a line by which
one is guided: an indication or outline of policy or conduct”.
Meaning, a guideline is often a benchmark that should be
followed, but technically, isn’t lawfully required to be followed.
• Conversely, the term regulation can be defined as: “an
authoritative rule dealing with details or procedures ; a rule or
order issued by an executive authority or regulatory agency of a
government and having the force of law”.
• Therefore, a regulation is similar to a guideline, in that,
benchmarks are established, but in contrast to a guideline,
regulations are enforceable by law. Regulations, in the context of
drinking water, are clearly preferred, because any deviation from
the benchmark can result in legal contravention against the
negligent body; thus, ensuring safe drinking water.
 Water Quality Criteria and Standards
▪ Water quality refers to the physical, chemical,
microbiological and radiological characteristics of water.
▪ It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the
requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any
human need or purpose.
▪ It is most frequently used by reference to a set of
standards against which compliance, generally achieved
through treatment of the water, can be assessed.
▪ The most common standards used to assess water quality
relate to health of ecosystems, safety of human contact,
and drinking water.
 Water Quality Standards
• In the setting of standards, agencies make political and
technical/scientific decisions about how the water will be used. In the
case of natural water bodies, they also make some reasonable
estimate of pristine conditions. Natural water bodies will vary in
response to environmental conditions. Environmental scientists work
to understand how these systems function, which in turn helps to
identify the sources and fates of contaminants. . Environmental
lawyers and policymakers work to define legislation with the
intention that water is maintained at an appropriate quality for its
identified use.
• The vast majority of surface water on the Earth is neither
potable nor toxic. Another general perception of water quality is that
of a simple property that tells whether water is polluted or not. In
fact, water quality is a complex subject, in part because water is a
complex medium intrinsically tied to the ecology of the Earth.
Industrial and commercial activities (e.g. manufacturing, mining,
construction, transport) are a major cause of water pollution as are
runoff from agricultural areas, urban runoff and discharge of treated
and untreated sewage.
 Categories of Standards
• The parameters for water quality are determined by the intended use. Work in
the area of water quality tends to be focused on water that is treated for human
consumption, industrial use, or in the environment.
1. Human consumption
• Contaminants that may be in untreated water include microorganisms, chemical
contaminants from industrial processes and petroleum use; pesticides and
herbicides; and radioactive contaminants. Water quality depends on the local
geology and ecosystem, as well as human uses such as sewage dispersion,
industrial pollution, use of water bodies as a heat sink, and overuse.
• Every country or state limits the amounts of certain parameters in public water
systems. There may be two types of standards:
- primary standards regulate substances that potentially affect human health;
- secondary standards prescribe aesthetic qualities, those that affect taste, odor,
or appearance.
• Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain
at least small amounts of some minerals. The presence of these minerals does
not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk.
• In urbanized areas around the world, water purification technology is used in
municipal water systems to remove contaminants from the source water (surface
water or groundwater) before it is distributed to homes, businesses, schools and
other recipients. Water drawn directly from a stream, lake, or aquifer and that
has no treatment will be of uncertain quality.
2. Industrial and domestic use
• Dissolved minerals may affect suitability of water for a range
of industrial and domestic purposes.
• The most familiar of these is probably the presence of ions of
calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) which interfere with
the cleaning action of soap, and can form hard sulfate and
soft carbonate deposits in water heaters or boilers.
• Hard water may be softened to remove these ions. The
softening process often substitutes sodium cations. Hard
water may be preferable to soft water for human
consumption, since health problems have been associated
with excess sodium and with calcium and magnesium
deficiencies.
• Softening decreases nutrition and may increase cleaning
effectiveness.
• Various industries' wastes and effluents can also pollute the
water quality in receiving bodies of water.
3. Environmental water quality
• Environmental water quality, also called ambient water quality, relates to
water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. Water quality standards for
surface waters vary significantly due to different environmental
conditions, ecosystems, and intended human uses.
• Toxic substances and high populations of certain microorganisms can
present a health hazard for non-drinking purposes such as irrigation,
swimming, fishing, rafting, boating, and industrial uses. These conditions
may also affect wildlife, which use the water for drinking or as a habitat.
Modern water quality laws generally specify protection of fisheries and
recreational use and require, as a minimum, retention of current quality
standards.
• There is some desire among the public to return water bodies to pristine,
or pre-industrial conditions. Most current environmental laws focus on the
designation of particular uses of a water body. In some countries these
designations allow for some water contamination as long as the particular
type of contamination is not harmful to the designated uses. Given the
landscape changes (e.g., land development, urbanization, clearcutting in
forested areas) in the watersheds of many freshwater bodies, returning to
pristine conditions would be a significant challenge. In these cases,
environmental scientists focus on achieving goals for maintaining healthy
ecosystems and may concentrate on the protection of populations of
endangered species and protecting human health.
 The Regulatory Process
Water quality regulation typically proceeds in a
logical stepwise fashion:
1. Beneficial uses are designated.
2. Criteria are developed.
3. Standards are promulgated.
4. Goals are set.
Beneficial uses are designated
• The first step in the regulatory process is designation of
beneficial uses for individual water sources.
• Surface waters and groundwaters are typically
designated by an agency for beneficial uses such as
municipal water supply, industrial water supply,
recreation, irrigation, power and navigation, and
protection or enhancement of fish and wildlife.
• These beneficial uses are based on the quality of the
water, present and future pollution sources, availability
of suitable alternative sources, historical practice, and
availability of treatment processes to remove
undesirable constituents for a given end use.
Criteria Development
To protect given beneficial uses, water quality criteria have been developed by
various groups to define contaminant concentrations which should not be
exceeded. Until they are translated into standards through rule making or
adjudication, criteria are in the form of recommendations or suggestions
only and do not have the force of regulation behind them. Criteria are
developed solely on the basis of data and scientific judgement without
consideration of technical or economic feasibility.

Standards Promulgation
Once designation of water bodies for specific beneficial uses has been made
and water quality criteria have been developed for those beneficial uses ,
the regulatory agency is ready to set standards. To do so, it considers water
quality criteria plus other factors such as economics, technical feasibility,
and political realities.
The ideal method for establishing standards involves a scientific determination
of health risks or benefits, a technical decision of costs to meet various
water quality levels, and a regulatory/political decision that weights benefits
and costs.
Goal Selection
▪ Water quality goals are contaminant concentrations which
an agency or water supplier chooses to achieve in order to
ensure it consistently meets regulated levels. Goals are
typically more stringent than standards and include
constituents not covered by regulations but of particular
importance to the goal setting entity.
▪ Decisions on setting goals involve determination of costs,
benefits, and the overall philosophy or posture of a supplier.