An emphasis on inputs for drinking water

摘要

Monitoring has been recognised for decades as a vital and integral part of maintaining drinking water quality and its merits have been debated at length. However, new thinking by key influential bodies suggests that the topic is about to acquire even greater prominence and importance. Professor Jeni Colbourne, Chief Inspector of the UK's Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), says there are changes on the horizon that could radically alter the philosophy and approach to the subject. The starting point, she says, has been the ongoing revision of the World Health Organization's drinking water guidelines. 'That is where things start and end, in terms of what's monitored and the way in which it is monitored,' she explains. The guidelines used to be produced as a major publication every ten years, but this approach has been superseded by a rolling programme of revision, which means guidelines from the early 1990s are now being examined.