Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality

Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality
Author: World Health Organization
Publisher: World Health Organization
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1993
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9789241545037

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.

Drinking Water Quality and Human Health

Drinking Water Quality and Human Health
Author: Patrick Levallois
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2019-04-04
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3038977268

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.

Water Intake, Body Water Regulation and Health

Water Intake, Body Water Regulation and Health
Author: William M. Adams
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2020-04-16
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3039286560

The purpose of this Special Issue, “Water Intake, Body Water Regulation, and Health”, is to present novel reviews and experimental data regarding hydration physiology and its implication in overall health. Water has previously been dubbed the forgotten nutrient due to humans’ and animals’ ability to subsist seemingly unchanged across a wide range of daily water intakes. However, with the introduction of stressors such as exercise, diseased states, and/or chronic high or low water intake, the homeostatic signals related to body water regulation can influence organ and whole-body health. This Special Issue will discuss water intake, the scientific rationale surrounding the U.S. and European water intake guidelines, homeostatic mechanisms, diseases related to dysfunction of water regulation, and differences in the volume and the vehicle in which the water is contained (i.e., plain water versus mixed beverages) on water intake during and following exercise. The aim is to continue discussion surrounding water, the previously forgotten nutrient, and highlight the importance of water in daily life.

Copper in Drinking Water

Copper in Drinking Water
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2000-04-12
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309172209

The safety of the nation's drinking water must be maintained to ensure the health of the public. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating the levels of substances in the drinking water supply. Copper can leach into drinking water from the pipes in the distribution system, and the allowable levels are regulated by the EPA. The regulation of copper, however, is complicated by the fact that it is both necessary to the normal functioning of the body and toxic to the body at too high a level. The National Research Council was requested to form a committee to review the scientific validity of the EPA's maximum contaminant level goal for copper in drinking water. Copper in Drinking Water outlines the findings of the committee's review. The book provides a review of the toxicity of copper as well as a discussion of the essential nature of this metal. The risks posed by both short-term and long-term exposure to copper are characterized, and the implications for public health are discussed. This book is a valuable reference for individuals involved in the regulation of water supplies and individuals interested in issues surrounding this metal.

Fluoride in Drinking Water

Fluoride in Drinking Water
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 531
Release: 2007-01-22
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 030910128X

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.

Management of Legionella in Water Systems

Management of Legionella in Water Systems
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2020-02-20
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 030949382X

Legionnaires' disease, a pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacterium, is the leading cause of reported waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. Legionella occur naturally in water from many different environmental sources, but grow rapidly in the warm, stagnant conditions that can be found in engineered water systems such as cooling towers, building plumbing, and hot tubs. Humans are primarily exposed to Legionella through inhalation of contaminated aerosols into the respiratory system. Legionnaires' disease can be fatal, with between 3 and 33 percent of Legionella infections leading to death, and studies show the incidence of Legionnaires' disease in the United States increased five-fold from 2000 to 2017. Management of Legionella in Water Systems reviews the state of science on Legionella contamination of water systems, specifically the ecology and diagnosis. This report explores the process of transmission via water systems, quantification, prevention and control, and policy and training issues that affect the incidence of Legionnaires' disease. It also analyzes existing knowledge gaps and recommends research priorities moving forward.

Arsenic in Drinking Water

Arsenic in Drinking Water
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2001-12-26
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309076293

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.

From Source Water to Drinking Water

From Source Water to Drinking Water
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2004-11-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309165520

The Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine was established in 1988 as a mechanism for bringing the various stakeholders together to discuss environmental health issues in a neutral setting. The members of the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine come from academia, industry, and government. Their perspectives range widely and represent the diverse viewpoints of researchers, federal officials, and consumers. They meet, discuss environmental health issues that are of mutual interest, and bring others together to discuss these issues as well. For example, they regularly convene workshops to help facilitate discussion of a particular topic. The Rountable's fifth national workshop entitled From Source Water to Drinking Water: Ongoing and Emerging Challenges for Public Health continued the theme established by previous Roundtable workshops, looking at rebuilding the unity of health and the environment. This workshop summary captures the discussions and presentations by the speakers and participants, who identified the areas in which additional research was needed, the processes by which changes could occur, and the gaps in our knowledge.

Handbook of Drinking Water Quality

Handbook of Drinking Water Quality
Author: John DeZuane
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 600
Release: 1997-01-31
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780471287896

"Well-written and informative." --Richard Lewis, Lewis Information Systems "This [book] combines information which could possibly haverequired as many as four reference sources in the past." --Steven C. Messer In its first edition, John De Zuane's popular reference drewwide praise for being an insightful theoretical resource. Now, inthe second edition of Handbook of Drinking Water Quality, DeZuane builds on that legacy with the same practical and conceptualemphases, adding a wealth of new information that providesimmediate access to the data and guidelines needed to * understand the impact of drinking water parameters on publichealth * help build and operate water supply facilities * conduct reliable drinking water sampling, monitoring, andanalytical evaluation * implement potability standards from the source to the treatmentfacility, to storage, to the tap * write new standards and expand/modify existing standards asquickly as needed Preventing contamination of drinking water requires amultidisciplinary perspective, one that incorporates elements ofbacteriology, chemistry, physics, engineering, public health,preventive medicine, and control and evaluation management. In aconcise, easy-to-use format, Handbook of Drinking WaterQuality, Second Edition, describes * Data and guidelines from the World Health Organization and theEuropean Community used to develop drinking water standards * U.S. drinking water standards--their physical, chemical,microbiological, and radionuclide parameters and monitoringrequirements * EPA-approved analytical methods and the most effectivetreatment technologies for each contaminant * Critical concepts of water quality control as applied in watertreatment in conventional or chemical treatment plants * Disinfection and fluoridation requirements * Common problems with water distribution systems, including deadends, sediments, bacterial growth, insufficient pressure, and mainbreaks To keep pace with recent breakthroughs in scientific research,water analysis, and program implementation and monitoring, thisSecond Edition features expanded and updated informationon * All drinking water regulations issued since the previousedition in 1990 * Current drinking water standards adopted by the EuropeanCommunity * Lead poisoning, radon, and Cryptosporidium * Compulsory water treatment for lead and copper * Coliform Rule compliance (disinfection and filtration) * Trihalomethane reduction with ozonation As a quick reference, handbook, and technical manual Handbookof Drinking Water Quality, Second Edition, is an essentialvolume for engineers, water supply and treatment personnel,environmental scientists, public health officials, or anyoneresponsible for assuring the safety of drinking water.