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.

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.

K347191 BCC Drinking water quality is a sensitive issue, and the public is constantly barraged by contaminant reports now routinely at parts-per-trillion. Protection from microbial disease risks from drinking water must always be predominant; trace chemicals usually fall farther down the scale of possible health risks, but even negligible detections raise public concerns. Drinking Water Quality and Contaminants Guidebook presents information and guidance on drinking water quality and regulatory issues reflecting experiences and judgments from the author’s more than 43 years of extensive experience. It contains digested comprehensive information on important chemical, microbial, and radionuclide water contaminants, and discussions of several drinking water-related policy issues. Information is presented for long-standing regulated contaminants and chemicals of emerging concern in understandable terms for professionals and non-experts alike. Dossiers contain readily accessed information on sources, physical and chemical properties, toxicity, analytical methodology, water treatment technology, regulations and health advisories, and also include World Health Organization Guidelines. Aesthetic and acceptance factors such as water hardness and salinity that influence public perceptions of drinking water quality are also addressed. Features: Compiles and interprets essential information on numerous key chemical, microbial, and radionuclide water contaminants Provides standardized entries for each contaminant, including occurrence, health, analytical, water treatment, regulations, and World Health Organization guidance and recommendations with source citations Examines many water-related topics including fracking, potable water reuse, desalination, boil water notices, bottled water, foodborne and waterborne disease, and public perceptions about public drinking water quality Provides essential information and the basis for management of many long-standing contaminants such as lead, mercury, disinfection by-products, E. coli, and also emerging issues such as legionella, glyphosate, BPA, and more

Environmental problems in coastal ecosystems can sometimes be attributed to excess nutrients flowing from upstream watersheds into estuarine settings. This nutrient over-enrichment can result in toxic algal blooms, shellfish poisoning, coral reef destruction, and other harmful outcomes. All U.S. coasts show signs of nutrient over-enrichment, and scientists predict worsening problems in the years ahead. Clean Coastal Waters explains technical aspects of nutrient over-enrichment and proposes both immediate local action by coastal managers and a longer-term national strategy incorporating policy design, classification of affected sites, law and regulation, coordination, and communication. Highlighting the Gulf of Mexico's "Dead Zone," the Pfiesteria outbreak in a tributary of Chesapeake Bay, and other cases, the book explains how nutrients work in the environment, why nitrogen is important, how enrichment turns into over-enrichment, and why some environments are especially susceptible. Economic as well as ecological impacts are examined. In addressing abatement strategies, the committee discusses the importance of monitoring sites, developing useful models of over-enrichment, and setting water quality goals. The book also reviews voluntary programs, mandatory controls, tax incentives, and other policy options for reducing the flow of nutrients from agricultural operations and other sources.