In this lecture about Water quality aspects you will learn the main water quality parameters important for designing a water treatment plant as well as the effect of these parameters on human health, consumer demands and operation.

As mentioned in the lecture on water quality aspects, most countries have their own drinking water guidelines and standards. Very often these national guidelines are based on or inspired by international guidelines of the World Health Organisation or European Union. These guidelines provide you with basic information on the toxicity of a substance in drinking water and the reasoning for the chosen acceptable guideline concentration. We recommend you take a closer look at this week’s optional reading material: WHO-Guidelines for Drinking-water.

Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 4th edition

This fourth edition of the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality builds on over 50 years of guidance by WHO on drinking-water quality, which has formed an authoritative basis for the setting of national regulations and standards for water safety in support of public health.

It is the product of significant revisions to clarify and elaborate on ways of implementing its recommendations of contextual hazard identification and risk management, through the establishment of health-based targets, catchment-to-consumer water safety plans and independent surveillance.