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 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.

The National Research Council closes the landmark series Drinking Water and Health with Volume 9, published in two parts: Part I: DNA Adducts provides an overview of DNA adducts and their effects on human health, explores the techniques currently in use for detecting them, offers an outlook on future toxicity testing, and lists specific recommendations for action. Part II: Mixtures explores the issues surrounding multiple-chemical exposure from drinking water and reviews options for grouping compounds so their toxicity in mixtures can be reliably assessed. The book describes alternative approaches and considers the option of developing a modified "hazard index" for chemical compounds.

Drinking water provides an efficient source for the spread of gastrointestinal microbial pathogens capable of causing serious human disease. The massive death toll and burden of disease worldwide caused by unsafe drinking water is a compelling reason to value the privilege of having safe drinking water delivered to individual homes. On rare occasions, that privilege has been undermined in affluent nations by waterborne disease outbreaks traced to the water supply. Using the rich and detailed perspectives offered by the evidence and reports from the Canadian public inquiries into the Walkerton (2000) and North Battleford (2001) outbreaks to develop templates for understanding their key dimensions, over 60 waterborne outbreaks from 15 affluent countries over the past 30 years are explored as individual case studies. Recurring themes and patterns are revealed and the critical human dimensions are highlighted suggesting insights for more effective and more individualized preventive strategies, personnel training, management, and regulatory control. Safe Drinking Water aims to raise understanding and awareness of those factors that have most commonly contributed to or caused drinking-water-transmitted disease outbreaks - essentially a case-history analysis within the multi-barrier framework. It contains detailed analysis of the failures underlying drinking-water-transmitted disease epidemics that have been documented in the open literature, by public inquiry, in investigation reports, in surveillance databases and other reliable information sources. The book adopts a theme of 'converting hindsight into foresight', to inform drinking-water and health professionals including operators, managers, engineers, chemists and microbiologists, regulators, as well as undergraduates and graduates at specialty level. Key Features: Contains details and perspectives of major outbreaks not widely known or understood beyond those directly involved in the investigations. Technical and scientific background associated with case studies is offered in an accessible summary form. Does not require specialist training or experience to comprehend the details of the numerous outbreaks reviewed. By providing a broad-spectrum review using a consistent approach, several key recurring themes are revealed that offer insights for developing localized, tailor-made prevention strategies.

Having safe drinking water is important to all Americans. The Environmental Protection Agency's decision in the summer of 2001 to delay implementing a new, more stringent standard for the maximum allowable level for arsenic in drinking water generated a great deal of criticism and controversy. Ultimately at issue were newer data on arsenic beyond those that had been examined in a 1999 National Research Council report. EPA asked the National Research Council for an evaluation of the new data available. The committee's analyses and conclusions are presented in Arsenic in Drinking Water: 2001 Update. New epidemiological studies are critically evaluated, as are new experimental data that provide information on how and at what level arsenic in drinking water can lead to cancer. The report's findings are consistent with those of the 1999 report that found high risks of cancer at the previous federal standard of 50 parts per billion. In fact, the new report concludes that men and women who consume water containing 3 parts per billion of arsenic daily have about a 1 in 1,000 increased risk of developing bladder or lung cancer during their lifetime.

Most people associate fluoride with the practice of intentionally adding fluoride to public drinking water supplies for the prevention of tooth decay. However, fluoride can also enter public water systems from natural sources, including runoff from the weathering of fluoride-containing rocks and soils and leaching from soil into groundwater. Fluoride pollution from various industrial emissions can also contaminate water supplies. In a few areas of the United States fluoride concentrations in water are much higher than normal, mostly from natural sources. Fluoride is one of the drinking water contaminants regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because it can occur at these toxic levels. In 1986, the EPA established a maximum allowable concentration for fluoride in drinking water of 4 milligrams per liter, a guideline designed to prevent the public from being exposed to harmful levels of fluoride. Fluoride in Drinking Water reviews research on various health effects from exposure to fluoride, including studies conducted in the last 10 years.

This book takes a broad and eclectic view of the water that all humanity depends upon, probing its role in human life and in the history of our planet, as well as surveying the latest scientific understanding of purification techniques and standards for the protection of water quality. The volume opens with a chapter on the role of drinking water in human life, which discusses the planet’s water resources, the quality of drinking water, water and health, the advent of water quality standards, “Green” chemistry and more. The chapter concludes by discussing the relationship of the biosphere and human civilization. Chapter Two explores the unique properties of water, the role of water in the scenario of development on Earth. Also covered is the current understanding of the importance of the isotopic composition of water, in particular the ratio of protium to deuterium, which is fundamental to life. The third chapter is devoted to Water Clusters, examining the structure, properties and formation of clusters. Also covered here is theoretical research on the interaction of water clusters with ozone, the impact of temperature on water clusters and more. Chapter Four is devoted to drinking water and factors affecting its quality. Discussion includes ecological and hygienic classification of centralized drinking water supply sources, water quality requirements, and problems and potentialities of drinking water preparation. The author introduces a new concept for supplying the population with high-quality drinking water. The fifth chapter examines the peculiarities and problems of water decontamination, with sections on chlorination, ozonation, the bactericidal effects of ultrasound and ultraviolet rays and more. Chapter Six offers a thorough exploration of the theory, means and methods of bio testing as an evaluation method for the quality of drinking water. The final chapter discusses new state standards for drinking water, as well as requirements and methods of quality control. The concluding selection relates the urgent need to measure, evaluate and protect the quality of drinking water and describes a new state standard of drinking water quality.