Off-flavor as the consumer's measure of drinking water safety

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Off Flavors ◽  
Health Related

If consumers detect an off-flavor in their drinking water, they are likely to believe that it probably is not safe. Water utilities will be defeating their best efforts to provide safe drinking water if they only meet health-related regulations and do not provide water that is free of off-flavor problems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current U.S. regulatory environment and discuss how these regulations can adversely impact the control of off-flavors in drinking water. Utilities should adopt a water quality goal that allows them to not only meet the minimums of the regulations, but also meet the customer's highest standards - water that is free of off-flavors.

scholarly journals Drinking water and health research: a look to the future in the United States and globally

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (S1) ◽  
pp. 17-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Sobsey
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Household Water Treatment ◽  
Water Research ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Key Issues

Drinking water supplies continue to be a major source of human disease and death globally because many of them remain unsafe and vulnerable. Greater efforts are needed to address the key issues and questions which influence the provision of safe drinking water. Efforts are needed to re-evaluate and set new and better priorities for drinking water research and practice. More stakeholders need to be included in the processes of identifying key issues and setting priorities for safe drinking water. The overall approach to drinking water research and the provision of safe drinking water needs to become more rational and scientific, and become more visionary and anticipatory of the ever-present and emerging risks to drinking water safety. Collectively, we need to do a better job of making safe water available, accessible and affordable for all. One such approach to safe water for all is household water treatment and safe storage, which is being promoted globally by the World Health Organization and many other stakeholders and partners to reduce the global burden of waterborne disease.

Evaluation of Water Quality of Rural Drinking Water and Countermeasure Research in Luquan City

2013 ◽  
Vol 773 ◽  
pp. 815-818
Author(s):  
Fang Hong Li ◽  
Xu Li Liang
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Site Investigation ◽  
Water Type ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Index Method ◽  
Countermeasure Research ◽  
Investigation Area ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Comprehensive Index Method

The rural drinking water safety is an important issue for people's livelihood. For Luquan city, of Hebei province in China, drinking water was sampled through site investigation, and the water quality was analyzed used comprehensive index method. The results show that: the water type is IV in the investigation area, which is not suitable for drinking in a long time. The corresponding measures were proposed combined with the real conditions, which could provide theoretical guidance and policy reference for improvement of rural drinking water management mechanism.

scholarly journals Implementation and evaluation of the water safety plan approach for buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 870-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Schmidt ◽  
Bettina Rickert ◽  
Oliver Schmoll ◽  
Thomas Rapp
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Drinking Water Quality ◽  
World Health ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Premise Plumbing

Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes water safety plans (WSPs) – a risk-based management approach – for premise plumbing systems in buildings to prevent deterioration of drinking-water quality. Experience with the implementation of WSPs in buildings were gathered within a pilot project in Germany. The project included an evaluation of the feasibility and advantages of WSPs by all stakeholders who share responsibility in drinking-water safety. While the feasibility of the concept was demonstrated for all buildings, benefits reported by building operators varied. The more technical standards were complied with before implementing WSP, the less pronounced were the resulting improvements. In most cases, WSPs yielded an increased system knowledge and awareness for drinking-water quality issues. WSPs also led to improved operation of the premise plumbing system and provided benefits for surveillance authorities. A survey among the European Network of Drinking-Water Regulators on the existing legal framework regarding drinking-water safety in buildings exhibited that countries are aware of the need to manage risks in buildings' installations, but experience with WSP is rare. Based on the successful implementation and the positive effects of WSPs on drinking-water quality, we recommend the establishment of legal frameworks that require WSPs for priority buildings whilst accounting for differing conditions in buildings and countries.

scholarly journals Screening of organic micropollutants in raw and drinking water in the Yangtze River Delta, China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanwei Ren ◽  
Rikard Tröger ◽  
Lutz Ahrens ◽  
Karin Wiberg ◽  
Daqiang Yin
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Flame Retardants ◽  
Total Concentration ◽  
Advanced Treatment ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Organic Micropollutants ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Treatment Techniques ◽  
Drinking Water Safety

Abstract Background The vast occurrence of organic micropollutants in surface waters has raised concerns about drinking water safety and public health. The Tai Hu Basin region in China, a typical developing and populous area, is facing the challenge of water pollution. To ensure drinking water safety, the knowledge on how treatment techniques and raw water quality affect the quality of finished water must be improved. The aim of the current study was to evaluate drinking water quality in relation to source water origin and treatment strategies. Five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), using three different source waters in the Tai Hu River Basin, (i) Yangtze River, (ii) Wetland River Network, and (iii) Lake Tai Hu, were studied by analyzing 291 micropollutants in raw and finished water.Results Major differences in water characteristics were observed among the source waters. The dominating group of micropollutants in the River Network was pesticides, while Yangtze was mainly polluted by flame retardants. The total concentration of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in Tai Hu water was far higher than in others. In total, 51 compounds were detected in finished water, with an overall average total concentration of 730 ± 160 ng L -1 . The removal efficiency of the detected compounds in the DWTPs averaged 24 ± 149%, which highlights the major challenge for the DWTPs to remove emerging organic micropollutants through current treatment processes.Conclusions Our study showed that if the source water contains high levels of PFASs and organophosphorus flame retardants, even advanced treatment procedures are inefficient in removing the micropollutants, and the finished water may contain cumulative levels in the mg L -1 range. On the other hand, if pesticides and pharmaceuticals dominate, high overall treatment efficiencies may be obtained if using advanced treatment techniques. DWTPs are advised to use advanced treatment techniques or alternative water sources to guarantee the safety of drinking water. As surface water systems are highly impacted by upstream activities, efforts should also be made in the comprehensive water sector for improved surface water quality.

Study on the Problems and Countermeasures of Rural Drinking Water Safety Engineering Construction and Management in China

2013 ◽  
Vol 357-360 ◽  
pp. 2273-2276
Author(s):  
Xiao Ke He ◽  
Cheng Min Qin
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Legal Person ◽  
Safety Engineering ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Engineering Construction ◽  
Water Project ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Project Construction ◽  
Operation And Management

The construction of China's rural drinking water safety project to have achieved stage results was summarized, and has analyzed the problems of the direction of investment and money management to be not clear, the project legal person subject to be unknown, project bidding to be not real, construction quality to be not high, poor operation and management in China rural safe drinking water project construction and management. The countermeasures have been put forward to solve the problems.

scholarly journals Screening of organic micropollutants in raw and drinking water in the Yangtze River Delta, China 

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanwei Ren ◽  
Rikard Tröger ◽  
Lutz Ahrens ◽  
Karin Wiberg ◽  
Daqiang Yin
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Flame Retardants ◽  
Total Concentration ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Advanced Treatment ◽  
Organic Micropollutants ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Treatment Techniques ◽  
Drinking Water Safety

Abstract Background: The vast occurrence of organic micropollutants in surface waters has raised concerns about drinking water safety and public health. The Tai Hu Basin region in China, a typical developing and populous area, is facing the challenge of water pollution. To ensure drinking water safety, the knowledge on how treatment techniques and raw water quality affect the quality of finished water must be improved. The aim of the current study was to evaluate drinking water quality with respect to organic micropollutants and how the purity of finished water depends on source water contamination and drinking water treatment strategies. Five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), using three different source waters in the Tai Hu River Basin, (i) Yangtze River, (ii) Wetland River Network, and (iii) Lake Tai Hu, were studied by analyzing 291 micropollutants in raw and finished water. Results: Major differences in concentrations and composition profiles of organic micropollutants were observed between the source waters. Among the studied micropollutants, the dominating group was pesticides in the wetland river network and flame retardants in Yangtze. The total concentration of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in Tai Hu water was far higher than in other samples. In total, 51 compounds were detected in finished water, with an overall average total concentration of 730 ± 160 ng L-1. The removal efficiency of the detected compounds in the DWTPs averaged 24 ± 150 %, which highlights the major challenge for the DWTPs to remove emerging organic micropollutants through current treatment processes. Conclusions: Our study showed that if the source water contains high levels of PFASs and organophosphorus flame retardants, even advanced treatment procedures are inefficient in removing the micropollutants, and the finished drinking water may contain cumulative levels of organic micropollutants in the mg L-1 range. On the other hand, if pesticides and pharmaceuticals dominate, high overall treatment efficiencies may be obtained if using advanced treatment techniques. DWTPs are advised to use advanced treatment techniques or alternative water sources to guarantee the safety of drinking water. As surface water systems are highly impacted by upstream activities, efforts should also be made in the water sector for improved surface water quality.

Study of Rural Drinking Water Safety Engineering Management

2014 ◽  
Vol 484-485 ◽  
pp. 558-561
Author(s):  
Wei Li
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Engineering Management ◽  
Safety Engineering ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Water Project ◽  
Drinking Water Safety

In recent years, all levels of government take solving the problem of safe drinking water in rural areas as a major initiative to ensure peoples livelihood. In the process of construction and management of rural safe drinking water project, government, enterprises and users are playing their own roles. The article proposes solutions to the problems that exist in the rural drinking water safety projects, by analyzing the roles of government, enterprises and users, in the management of rural safe drinking water project. It has certain referential significance to the construction and management of rural safe drinking water project.

scholarly journals Evolution of regulatory targets for drinking water quality

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Sinclair ◽  
Joanne O'Toole ◽  
Katherine Gibney ◽  
Karin Leder
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Drinking Water Quality ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Quality Regulation ◽  
Target Values ◽  
Disease Risks ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Knowledge And Practice

The last century has been marked by major advances in the understanding of microbial disease risks from water supplies and significant changes in expectations of drinking water safety. The focus of drinking water quality regulation has moved progressively from simple prevention of detectable waterborne outbreaks towards adoption of health-based targets that aim to reduce infection and disease to a level well below detection limits at the community level. This review outlines the changes in understanding of community disease and waterborne risks that prompted development of these targets, and also describes their underlying assumptions and current context. Issues regarding the appropriateness of selected target values, and how continuing changes in knowledge and practice may influence their evolution, are also discussed.

Evaluation of approaches for consumers to eliminate chlorine off-flavors from drinking water at point-of-use

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yichao Qian ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Xing-Fang Li ◽  
Steve E. Hrudey
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Uv Irradiation ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Free Chlorine ◽  
Water Disinfection ◽  
Reaction Products ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Off Flavors

Chlorine off-flavors of tap water have caused dissatisfaction and distrust from some consumers, placing pressure on operators concerning water disinfection. Evaluating practical approaches for eliminating chlorinous off-flavors by consumers at point-of-use while avoiding production of toxic byproducts is a practical concern. Three recognized dechlorination methods: ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, ascorbic acid (AA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP), were evaluated for chlorinated and chloraminated waters. AA is the most efficient for removing free chlorine and chloramine from water samples. Three new chlorine-containing compounds were detected and identified from the reaction between AA and chlorine. High doses of UV irradiation at 254 nm virtually eliminated chlorine. HP could effectively remove free chlorine but was not effective for chloramine elimination. AA shows promise as a practical household dechlorination agent. However, to assure consumers about drinking water safety, further investigation is needed to evaluate any potential toxicity concerns for reaction products in treated water.

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