Introduction Water is essential to sustain life, and a satisfactory (adequate, safe and accessible) supply must be available to all. Improving access to safe drinking-water can result in tangible benefits to health. Every effort should be made to achieve a drinking-water quality as safe as practicable.

A holistic approach to drinking-water supply risk assessment and risk management increases confidence in the safety of drinking-water. This approach entails systematic assessment of risks throughout a drinking-water supply – from the catchment and its source water through to the consumer – and identification of the ways in which these risks can be managed, including methods to ensure that control measures are working effectively. It incorporates strategies to deal with day-to-day management of water quality, including upsets and failures.

Water Quality Testing Water quality is defined by analyzing it in terms of its: Chemical Content: Hardness (calcium + magnesium), Metals (iron etc), nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), chloride, sodium, organic compounds, etc. Physical Content: Turbidity, colour, odour, etc. Biological Content: Fecal coliform, total coliform, viruses, etc

Potable Water Good quality drinking water is free from disease-causing organisms, harmful chemical substances and radioactive matter, tastes good, is aesthetically appealing and is free from objectionable colour or odour.