Potable water is defined as water that is suitable for human consumption (i.e., water that can be used for drinking or cooking). The term implies that the water is drinkable as well as safe. Drinkable water means it is free of unpleasant odors, tastes and colors, and is within reasonable limits of temperature (Dugan, 1972). Safe water means it contains no toxins, carcinogens, pathogenic micro-organisms, or other health hazards (US National Academy of Sciences, 1977–82).
The cleanest sources of surface water and groundwater must be preserved for potable water supply purposes (Schwartz et al., 1990). Potable water must meet numerous physical, chemical, microbiological, and radionuclide (q.v.) standards for both the untreated (raw) water sources and the treated water. Drinking water standards in the USA are developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as directed by the Safe Drinking Act of 1974. EPA has been required to set standards, which are called maximum contaminant...
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Brenniman, G.R. (1999). Potable water . In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_265
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_265
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