Drinking water
The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, age, health-related issues, and environmental conditions.Physical and chemical parameters include heavy metals, trace organic compounds, total suspended solids, and turbidity.Chemical parameters tend to pose more of a chronic health risk through buildup of heavy metals although some components like nitrates/nitrites and arsenic can have a more immediate impact.Physical parameters affect the aesthetics and taste of the drinking water and may complicate the removal of microbial pathogens.Pesticides may be present in drinking water in low concentrations, but the toxicity of the chemical and the extent of human exposure are factors that are used to determine the specific health risk.[21] Perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic compounds used in a large variety of consumer products, such as food packaging, waterproof fabrics, carpeting and cookware.PFAS chemicals have been detected in blood, both humans and animals, worldwide, as well as in food products, water, air and soil.China adopted its own drinking water standard GB3838-2002 (Type II) enacted by Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2002.[32] Contaminated water together with the lack of sanitation was estimated to cause about one percent of disability adjusted life years worldwide in 2010.[33] According to the WHO, the most common diseases linked with poor water quality are cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio.In their analysis they focus on the following four health outcomes: diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, malnutrition, and soil-transmitted Helminthiasis (STHs).[41] Sixty million people are estimated to have been poisoned by well water contaminated by excessive fluoride, which dissolved from granite rocks.Although helpful for dental health in low dosage, fluoride in large amounts interferes with bone formation.Other techniques, such as filtration, chemical disinfection, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation (including solar UV) have been demonstrated in an array of randomized control trials to significantly reduce levels of water-borne disease among users in low-income countries,[62] but these suffer from the same problems as boiling methods.Another type of water treatment is called desalination and is used mainly in dry areas with access to large bodies of saltwater.[63] Local geological conditions affecting groundwater are determining factors for the presence of various metal ions, often rendering the water "soft" or "hard".The current priority of the proponents of POU treatment is to reach large numbers of low-income households on a sustainable basis.Few POU measures have reached significant scale thus far, but efforts to promote and commercially distribute these products to the world's poor have only been under way for a few years.In 2017, almost 22 million Americans drank from water systems that were in violation of public health standards, which could contribute to citizens developing water-borne illnesses.[77] The population in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe have achieved nearly universal basic drinking water services.[76]: 3 Because of the high initial investments, many less wealthy nations cannot afford to develop or sustain appropriate infrastructure, and as a consequence people in these areas may spend a correspondingly higher fraction of their income on water.[85] Continued efforts are needed to reduce urban-rural disparities and inequities associated with poverty; to dramatically increase safe drinking water coverage in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania; to promote global monitoring of drinking water quality; and to look beyond the MDG target towards universal coverage.Monitoring is undertaken by the Environmental Public Health Department of the Singaporean Government[91] In the United Kingdom regulation of water supplies is a devolved matter to the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments and the Northern Ireland Assembly.In 2016, over 90 percent of the nation's community water systems were in compliance with all published U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) standards.[104] These inequities underscore the need for more targeted investment and stronger enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act in vulnerable regions.The drivers of change can vary: the cholera epidemic in the 1850s in London led John Snow to further our understanding of waterborne diseases.
tap wateringestionfood preparationcarry vectors of diseaseU.N. secretary-generalBan Ki-moonWater resourcesWater securityvending machinesThailand1 bahtspringshyporheic zonesaquifersgroundwaterrainwater harvestingsurface waterglaciersdesalinatedseawaterwater treatmentdrinking water quality standardsatmospheric water generatorsbottled watersWater supplyWater supply networkwater systemsWater useResidential water use in the U.S. and CanadaDaily consumption of drinking waterhealthAdequate IntakeEuropean Food Safety Authoritydomesticated animalsanimal husbandrydairy cowWater qualityWater pollutionHard waterUNICEFUNESCOFinlandcoliform bacteriaE. colibacteriacholeraVibrio choleraevirusesprotozoanparasitespathogensfecal coliformsE. ColisewageoocystsCryptosporidiumGiardia lambliaLegionellasystematic reviewheavy metalsorganic compoundstotal suspended solidsturbidityarsenicPesticidestoxicityPerfluorinated alkylated substancesfood packagingpersistent organic pollutantsharmful constituentsEuropean Drinking Water DirectiveUnited States Environmental Protection AgencySafe Drinking Water ActMinistry of Environmental ProtectionWorld Health OrganizationEuropean CommissionWaterborne diseasesfecal–oral disease transmissiontoiletssafe waterhygienehandwashingContaminated watersanitationdisability adjusted life yearsdiseases linked with poor water qualitydiarrheadysenteryhepatitis Atyphoidburden of diseaseacronymacute respiratory infectionsmalnutritionHelminthiasisSustainable Development Goal 3disability-adjusted life yearsdiarrheal diseasefecal–oral routesunderweightstunted growthmalariacognitivewater filtersimproved sanitationhand washingGroundwater pollutionArsenic contamination of groundwaterfluoridedental fluorosisskeletal fluorosisglobal threatcholera outbreak in London's Soho districtJohn SnowepidemiologyHinkley groundwater contaminationWalkerton E. coli outbreakWalkerton, OntarioFlint water crisisJackson, Mississippi, water crisishuman excretacryptosporidiosisMilwaukee Cryptosporidium outbreaktyphoid fevercampylobacteriosisgastroenteritis