Drinking Water Quality Standards

Drinking water quality standards describes the quality parameters set for drinking water . Despite the truism that every human on this planet needs drinking water to survive and that water can contain many harmful constituents, there are no universally recognised and accepted international standards for drinking water. Even where standards do e ist, and are applied, the permitted concentration of individual constituents may vary by as much as ten times from one set of standards to another. !any developed countries specify standards to be applied in their own country. "n Europe this includes the Drinking water directive and in the#S$ the #nited States Environmental %rotection $gency &E%$' establishes down standards as required by the Safe Drinking Water $ct.()*+or countries without a legislative or administrative framework for such standards, the World ,ealth -rganisation publishes guidelines on the standards that should be achieved (.* Where standards do e ist most are e pressed as guidelines or targets and very few have any legal basis or are sub/ect to enforcement. (0*1he European Drinking Water Directive and the Safe Water $ct in the #S$ are two e ceptions where there is a requirement to legally comply with specific standards. "n Europe this includes a requirement for member states to enact appropriate local legislation to mandate the directive in each country. 2outine inspection and, where required, enforcement is enacted by means of penalties imposed by the European 3ommission on non4compliant nations. 3ountries with guideline values as their standards include 3anada which has guideline values for a relatively small suite of parameters, 5ew 6ealand where there is a legislative basis but water providers have to make 7best endeavours7 to comply with the standards (8* and $ustralia

Range of standards
$lthough drinking water standards are frequently referred to as if they are simple lists of parametric values, standards documents also specify sampling location choice, sampling methods, laboratory analytical methods and laboratory $Q3. "n addition a number of standards documents also make reference to the statistical treatment of results, dealing with temporal and seasonal variations, summation of related parameters and treatment of apparently aberrant results.

Parametric values
&Parametric value also has a specific and different mathematical meaning ' $ parametric value in this conte t is most commonly the concentration of a substance, e.g. 09 mg:l of "ron. "t may also be a count such as ;99 E. coli per litre or a statistical value such as the average concentration of copper is . mg:l. !any countries not only specify parametric values that may have health impacts but also specify parametric values for a range of

constituents that by themselves are unlikely to have any impact on health. 1hese include colour, turbidity, p, and the organoleptic parameters &taste and smell'. "t is possible and technically acceptable to refer to the same parameter in different ways that may appear to suggest a variation in the standard required. +or e ample, 5itrite may be measured as 5itrite ion or e pressed as 5. $ standard of 5itrite as 5 of ).8 mg:l would be equal to a nitrite ion concentration of 8.< mg:l 4 an apparent difference of nearly three fold.

Australian standards
Drinking water quality standards in $ustralia have been developed by the $ustralian =overnment 5ational ,ealth and !edical 2esearch 3ouncil &5,!23' in the form of the $ustralian Drinking Water =uidelines. (;* 1hese guidelines provide contaminant limits &pathogen, aesthetic, organic, inorganic and radiological' as well as guidance on applying limits for the management of drinking water in $ustralian drinking water treatment and distribution systems.

European Union standards

1he following parametric standards are included in the Drinking Water directive and are e pected to be enforced by appropriate legislation in every country in the European #nion. Simple parametric values are reproduced here but in many cases the original directive also provides caveats and notes about many of the values given. $crylamide 9.)9 >g:l $ntimony ;.9 >g:l $rsenic )9 >g:l ?en@ene ).9 >g:l ?en@o&a'pyrene 9.9)9 >g:l ?oron ).9 mg:l ?romate )9 >g:l 3admium ;.9 >g:l 3hromium ;9 >g:l 3opper ..9 mg:l 3yanide ;9 >g:l ),.4dichloroethane 0.9 >g:l Epichlorohydrin 9.)9 >g:l +luoride ).; mg:l Aead )9 >g:l !ercury ).9 >g:l 5ickel .9 >g:l 5itrate ;9 mg:l 5itrite 9.;9 mg:l %esticides 9.)9 >g:l

%esticides 4 1otal 9.;9 >g:l %olycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons 9.)9 >g:l Sum of concentrations of specified compoundsB Selenium )9 >g:l 1etrachloroethene and 1richloroethene )9 >g:l Sum of concentrations of specified parameters 1rihalomethanes C 1otal )99 >g:l Sum of concentrations of specified compounds Dinyl chloride 9.;9 >g:l

United States standards

"n the #S$ the legislation controlling drinking water quality is the Safe Water $ct which is implemented federally by the E%$. ,owever many individual States also apply their own standards which may be more rigorous or include additional parameters. Standards set by the E%$ in the #S$ are not international standards since they apply to a single country. ,owever many countries look to the #S$ for appropriate scientific and public health guidance and may adopt #S$ standards.

World Health Organisation guidelines

1hese guidelines include the following recommended limits on naturally occurring constituents that may have direct adverse health impactE $rsenic )9>g:l ?arium F99>g:l ?oron .899>g:l 3hromium ;9>g:l +luoride );99>g:l Selenium 89>g:l #ranium 09>g:l

+or man4made pollutants potentially occurring in drinking water the following standards are proposed. 3admium 0>g:l !ercury <>g:l +or inorganic mercury

-rganic speciesE ?en@ene )9>g:l 3arbon tetrachloride 8>g:l ),.4Dichloroben@ene )999>g:l

),84Dichloroben@ene 099>g:l ),.4Dichloroethane 09>g:l ),.4Dichloroethene ;9>g:l Dichloromethane .9>g:l Di&.4ethylhe yl'phthalate G >g:l ),84Dio ane ;9>g:l Edetic acid <99>g:l Ethylben@ene 099 >g:l ,e achlorobutadiene 9.< >g:l 5itrilotriacetic acid .99>g:l %entachlorophenol H>g:l Styrene .9>g:l 1etrachloroethene 89>g:l 1oluene F99>g:l 1richloroethene .9>g:l Iylenes ;99>g:l

Comparison of parametric values

1he following table provides a comparison of a selection of parameters concentrations listed by W,-, the European #nion and the E%$. " indicates that no standard has been identified by editors of this article and ns indicates that no standard e ists. World Health Organization European Union United States

Parameter

$crylamide

9.)9 >g:

$rsenic

)9>g:l

9.) >g:l

)9>g:l

$ntimony

ns

;.9 >g:l

?arium

F99>g:l

ns

?en@ene

)9>g:l

).9 >g:l

Parameter

World Health Organization

European Union

United States

?en@o&a'pyrene

9.9)9 >g:l

?oron

..8mg:l

),9 mg:l

?romate

)9 >g:l

3admium

0>g:l

;,9 >g:l

3hromium

;9>g:l

;9 >g:l

3opper

..9 mg:l

3yanide

;9 >g:l

),.4dichloroethane

0.9 >g:l

Epichlorohydrin

9.)9 >g:l

+luoride

).; mg:l

).; mg:l

8 mg:l

Aead

)9 >g:l

); >g:l

!ercury

<>g:l

).9 >g:l

5ickel

.9 >g:l

Parameter

World Health Organization

European Union

United States

5itrate

;9 mg:l

5itrite

9.;9 mg:l

%esticides &individual'

9.)9 >g: l

%esticides C 1otal

9.;9 >g:l

%olycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons l J

9.)9 >g:

Selenium

89>g:l

)9 >g:l

1etrachloroethene and 1richloroethene

89>g:l

)9 >g:l

!a imum 3ontaminant Aevel

Ma imum !ontaminant "e#els &!3As' are standards that are set by the #nited States Environmental %rotection $gency &E%$' fordrinking water quality. $n !3A is the legal threshold limit on the amount of a substance that is allowed in public water systems under theSafe Drinking Water $ct. 1he limit is usually e pressed as a concentration in milligrams or micrograms per liter of water.()* 1o set a !a imum 3ontaminant Aevel for a contaminant, E%$ first determines how much of the contaminant may be present with no adversehealth effects. 1his level is called the !a imum 3ontaminant Aevel =oal &!3A='. !3A=s are non4enforceable public health goals. 1he legally enforced !3A is then set as close as possible to the !3A=. 1he !3A for a contaminant may be higher than the !3A= because of difficulties in measuring small quantities of a contaminant, a lack of available treatment technologies, or if E%$ determines that the costs of treatment would outweigh the public health benefits of a lower !3A. "n the last case, E%$ will set the !3A to balance the cost of treatment with the public health benefits. (.*

+or some contaminants, E%$ establishes a 1reatment 1echnique &11' instead of an !3A. 11s are enforceable procedures that drinking water systems must follow in treating their water for a contaminant.(.* !3As and 11s are known /ointly as 5ational %rimary Drinking Water 2egulations &5%DW2s', or primary standards.(0* Some contaminants may cause aesthetic problems with drinking water, such as the presence of unpleasant tastes or odors, or cosmetic problems, such as tooth discoloration. Since these contaminants do not cause health problems, there are no legally enforceable limits on their presence in drinking water. ,owever, E%$ recommends ma imum levels of these contaminants in drinking water. 1hese recommendations are called 5ational Secondary Drinking Water 2egulations &5SDW2s', or secondary standards

?acteriological water analysis

$a%teriologi%al water analysis is a method of analysing water to estimate the numbers of bacteria present and, if needed, to find out what sort of bacteria they are. "t is a microbiological analytical procedure which uses samples of water and from these samples determines the concentration of bacteria. "t is then possible to draw inferences about the suitability of the water for use from these concentrations. 1his process is used, for e ample, to routinely confirm that water is safe for human consumption or that bathing and recreational waters are safe to use. 1he interpretation and the action trigger levels for different waters vary depending on the use made of the water. Dery stringent levels applying to drinking water whilst more rela ed levels apply to marine bathing waters where much lower volumes of water are e pected to be ingested by users.

Approach
1he common feature of all these routine screening procedures is that the primary analysis is for indicator organisms rather than the pathogens that might cause concern. "ndicator organisms are bacteria such as non4specific coliforms, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are very commonly found in the human or animal gut and which, if detected, may suggest the presence of sewage. "ndicator organisms are used because even when a person is infected with a more pathogenic bacteria, they will still be e creting many millions times more indicator organisms than pathogens. "t is therefore reasonable to surmise that if indicator organism levels are low, then pathogen levels will be very much lower or absent. Kudgements as to suitability of water for use are based on very e tensive precedents and relate to the probability of any sample population of bacteria being able to be infective at a reasonable statistical level of confidence. $nalysis is usually performed using culture, biochemical and sometimes optical methods. When indicator organisms levels e ceed pre4set triggers, specific analysis for pathogens may then be undertaken and these can be quickly detected &where suspected' using specific culture methods or molecular biology.

Methodologies
?ecause the analysis is always based on a very small sample taken from a very large volume of water, all methods rely on statistical principles.

Multiple tu&e method

-ne of the oldest methods is called the multiple tube method. "n this method a measured sub4 sample &perhaps )9ml' is diluted with )99ml of sterile growth medium and an aliquot of )9ml is then decanted into each of ten tubes. 1he remaining )9ml is then diluted again and the process repeated. $t the end of ; dilutions this produces ;9 tubes covering the dilution range of )E)9 through to )E )9999. 1he tubes are then incubated at a pre4set temperature for a specified time and at the end of the process the number of tubes with growth in is counted for each dilution. Statistical tables are then used to derive the concentration of organisms in the original sample. 1his method can be enhanced by using indicator medium which changes colour when acid forming species are present and by including a tiny inverted tube in each sample tube. 1his inverted tube catches any gas produced. 1he production of gas at 0F Degrees 3elsius is a strong indication of the presence ofEscherichia coli

'(P (esting
$n $1% test is the process of rapidly measuring active microorganisms in water through detection of a molecule called $denosine 1riphosphate, or $1%. $1% is a molecule found only in and around living cells, and as such it gives a direct measure of biological concentration and health. $1% is quantified by measuring the light produced through its reaction with the naturally4occurring firefly en@yme Auciferase using a Auminometer. 1he amount of light produced is directly proportional to the amount of biological energy present in the sample .nd =eneration $1% tests are specifically designed for water, wastewater and industrial applications where, for the most part, samples contain a variety of components that can interfere with the $1% assay.

Plate %ount
1he plate count method relies on bacteria growing a colony on a nutrient medium so that the colony becomes visible to the naked eye and the number of colonies on a plate can be counted. 1o be effective, the dilution of the original sample must be arranged so that on average between 09 and 099 colonies of the target bacterium are grown. +ewer than 09 colonies makes the interpretation statistically unsound whilst greater than 099 colonies often results in overlapping colonies and imprecision in the count. 1o ensure that an appropriate number of colonies will be generated several dilutions are normally cultured. 1he laboratory procedure involves making serial dilutions of the sample &)E)9, )E)99, )E)999 etc.' in sterile water and cultivating these onnutrient agar in a dish that is sealed and incubated. 1ypical media include %late count agar for a general count or !ac3onkey agar to count gram4

negative bacteria such as E. coli. 1ypically one set of plates is incubated at ..L3 and for .8 hours and a second set at 0FL3 for .8 hours. 1he composition of the nutrient usually includes reagents that resist the growth of non4target organisms and make the target organism easily identified, often by a colour change in the medium. Some recent methods include a fluorescent agent so that counting of the colonies can be automated. $t the end of the incubation period the colonies are counted by eye, a procedure that takes a few moments and does not require a microscope as the colonies are typically a few millimetres across.

Mem&rane )iltration
!ost modern laboratories use a refinement of total plate count in which serial dilutions of the sample are vacuum filtered through purpose made membrane filters and these filters are themselves laid on nutrient medium within sealed plates. 1he methodology is otherwise similar to conventional total plate counts. !embranes have a printed millimetre grid printed on and can be reliably count a much greater number of colonies under a binocular microscope.

Pour plates
When the analysis is looking for bacterial species that grow poorly in air, the initial analysis is done by mi ing serial dilutions of the sample in liquid nutrient agar which is then poured into bottles which are then sealed and laid on their sides to produce a sloping agar surface. 3olonies that develop in the body of the medium can be counted by eye after incubation. 1he total number of colonies is referred to as the 1otal Diable 3ount &1D3'. 1he unit of measurement is cfu:ml &or colony forming units per millilitre' and relates to the original sample. 3alculation of this is a multiple of the counted number of colonies multiplied by the dilution used.

Pathogen analysis
When samples show elevated levels of indicator bacteria, further analysis is often undertaken to look for specific pathogenic bacteria. Species commonly investigated in the temperate @one include Salmonella typhi and Salmonella typhimurium Depending on the likely source of contamination investigation may also e tend to organisms such as Cryptosporidium spp. "n tropical areas analysis of Vibrio cholerae is also routinely undertaken.

ypes of nutrient media used in analysis

!ac3onkey agar is culture medium designed to grow =ram4negative bacteria and stain them for lactose fermentation. "t contains bile salts &to inhibit most =ram4positive bacteria', crystal violet dye &which also inhibits certain =ram4positive bacteria', neutral red dye &which stains microbes fermenting lactose', lactose and peptone. $lfred 1heodore !ac3onkey developed it while working as a bacteriologist for the 2oyal 3ommission on Sewage Disposal in the #nited Mingdom.

E5D- medium contains peptone, lactose, dipotassium phosphate, agar, sodium sulfite, basic fuchsin and was originally developed for the isolation of Salmonella typhi, but is now commonly used in water analysis. $s in !ac3onkey agar, coliform organisms ferment the lactose, and the colonies become red. 5on4lactose4fermenting organisms produce clear, colourless colonies against the faint pink background of the medium. ()* m+3 medium is a medium used in membrane filtration which contains selective and differential agents. 1hese include 2osolic acid to inhibit bacterial growth in general, e cept for faecal coliforms, ?ile salts inhibit non4enteric bacteria and $niline blue indicates the ability of faecal coliforms to ferment lactose to acid that causes a p, change in the medium. (.* 1NE$ medium contains tryptone, yeast e tract, common salt and A4arabinose per liter of glass distilled water and is a non selective medium usually cultivated at two temperatures &.. and 0<L3' to determine a general level of contamination &a.k.a colony count'.