Abstract
Water contains many chemical constituents, some of which are harmful to human beings. Epidemiological and hydrochemical studies identified those chemical characteristics, and administrators brought out drinking water standards to ensure a safe water supply. Though well-laid down procedures and regulations exist at different levels, people still suffer from scores of waterborne diseases due to violation or non-compliance of such regulations by people engaged in the water supply. Similarly, it can be noticed that inter-disciplinary researchers involved in water chemistry and human health misquote the drinking water standards leading to the propagation of distorted information. Ignorance or lack of complete knowledge on specific fine points about the drinking water specifications (DWS) could cause these inadvertent omissions. Intricacies and fine print of drinking water guidelines/regulations/standards of World Health Organization (WHO) and India are discussed. Discrepancies in using these standards by different user agencies and researchers are illustrated. Ambiguities in the drinking water standards that could confuse are deliberated. The review paper intends to bring to light the shortcomings in the implementation of DWS. It also aimed to encourage scientists and experts to use the information about DWS with absolute care and utilize the latest and genuine DWS obtained from an authentic source. The Paper also emphasizes the necessity for impetus in research on water contamination and adverse effects on human beings in the light of tremendous progress in analytical chemistry and medical sciences. The findings can be used to update the DWS at regular intervals.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
In Public Domain.
References
Abbasnia, A., Radfard, M., Mahvi, A. H., Nabizadeh, R., Yousefi, M., Soleimani, H., & Alimohammadi, M. (2018). Groundwater quality assessment for irrigation purposes based on irrigation water quality index and its zoning with GIS in the villages of Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchistan, Iran. Data in Brief, 19, 623–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.05.061
Abbasnia, A., Yousefi, N., Mahvi, A. H., Nabizadeh, R., Radfard, M., Yousefi, M., & Alimohammadi, M. (2019). Evaluation of groundwater quality using water quality index and its suitability for assessing water for drinking and irrigation purposes: Case study of Sistan and Baluchistan province (Iran). Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 25(4), 988–1005. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1458596
Adimalla, N., Li, P., & Venkatayogi, S. (2018). hydrogeochemical evaluation of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes and integrated interpretation with water quality index studies. Environmental Processes, 5, 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-018-0297-4
Allaire, M., Wu, H., & Lall, U. (2018). National trends in water quality violations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(9), 2078–2083. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719805115
Bain, R., Cronk, R., Wright, J., Yang, H., Slaymaker, T., & Bartram, J. (2014). Fecal contamination of drinking-water in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 11(5), e1001644. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001644
Bhuiyan, M. A., Islam, M. A., Dampare, S. B., Parvez, L., & Suzuki, S. (2010). Evaluation of hazardous metal pollution in irrigation and drinking water systems in the vicinity of a coal mine area of northwestern Bangladesh. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 179(1–3), 1065–1077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.03.114 ISSN 0304-3894.
BIS. (2004). Indian Standard Drinking Water — Specification Second Revision of IS 10500; 2004. ICS 13.060.20. Jan 2005.
BIS. (2012). Indian Standard Drinking Water — Specification (Second Revision) IS 10500; 2012. ICS 13.060.20. May 20125. © BIS 2012.
Chandra, S., Saxena, T., Nehra, S., & Mohan, M. K. (2016). Quality assessment of supplied drinking water in Jaipur city, India, using PCR-based approach. Environmental Earth Sciences, 75, 153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4809-5
Chen, J., Wu, H., Qian, H., & Gao, Y. (2017). assessing nitrate and fluoride contaminants in drinking water and their health risk of rural residents living in a semiarid region of Northwest China. Exposure and Health, 9, 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-016-0231-9
Dietrich, A. M., & Burlingame, G. A. (2014). Critical review and rethinking of USEPA secondary standards for maintaining organoleptic quality of drinking water. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(2), 708–720. https://doi.org/10.1021/es504403t
Duressa, G., Assefa, F., & Jida, M. (2019). Assessment of bacteriological and physicochemical quality of drinking water from source to household tap connection in Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2019, 2129792. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2129792
Gupta, N., Pandey, P., & Hussain, J. (2017). Effect of physicochemical and biological parameters on the quality of river water of Narmada, Madhya Pradesh. India. Water Science, 31(1), 11–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsj.2017.03.002 ISSN 1110-4929.
Hamlat, A., & Guidoum, A. (2018). Assessment of groundwater quality in a semiarid region of Northwestern Algeria using water quality index (WQI). Applied Water Science, 8, 220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0863-y
Hoque, B. A., Hallman, K., Levy, J., Bouis, H., Ali, N., Khan, F., Khanam, S., Kabir, M., Hossain, S., & Alam, M. S. (2006). Rural drinking water at supply and household levels: quality and management. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 209(5), 451–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2006.04.008 ISSN 1438-4639.
Hussain, I., Arif, M., & Hussain, J. (2012). Fluoride contamination in drinking water in rural habitations of Central Rajasthan, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment., 184(8), 5151–5158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2329-7 Epub 2011 Sep 20 PMID: 21931948.
Hussain, J., Husain, I., Arif, M., & Gupta, N. (2017). Studies on heavy metal contamination in Godavari river basin. Applied Water Science, 7, 4539–4548. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-017-0607-4
Jehan, S., Ullah, I., Khan, S., Muhammad, S., Khattak, S. A., & Khan, T. (2020). Evaluation of the Swat River, Northern Pakistan, water quality using multivariate statistical techniques and water quality index (WQI) model. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 38545–38558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09688-y
Jha, M. K., Shekhar, A., & Jenifer, M. A. (2020). Assessing groundwater quality for drinking water supply using hybrid fuzzy-GIS-based water quality index. Water Research, 179, 115867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115867 ISSN 0043-1354.
Johnson, B. B. (2008). Public views on drinking water standards as risk indicators. Risk Analysis, 28(6), 1515–1530. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01116.x
Kangabam, R. D., Bhoominathan, S. D., Kanagaraj, S., & Govindaraju, M. (2017). Developing a water quality index (WQI) for the Loktak Lake in India. Applied Water Science, 7, 2907–2918. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-017-0579-4
Karthick, B., Boominathan, M., Ali, S., & Ramachandra, T.V. (2010). 'Evaluation of the quality of drinking water in Kerala State, India.' January 1, 2010: 39–48. Print. Asian Journal of Water, Environment, and Pollution, 7(4), 39–48. https://content.iospress.com/articles/asian-journal-of-water-environment-and-pollution/ajw7-4-06
Khan, S., Shahnaz, M., Jehan, N., Rehman, S., Shah, M. T., & Din, I. (2016). Drinking water quality and human health risk in Charsadda district, Pakistan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 60, 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.016 ISSN 0959-6526.
Kirchhoff, C. J., Flagg, J. A., Zhuang, Y., & Utemuratov, B. (2019). understanding and improving enforcement and compliance with drinking water standards. Water Resources Management, 33, 1647–1663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-019-2189-4
Krishna Kumar, S., Logeshkumaran, A., Magesh, N. S., Godson, P. S., & Chandrasekar, N. (2015). Hydro-geochemistry and application of water quality index (WQI) for groundwater quality assessment, Anna Nagar, part of Chennai City, Tamil Nadu, India. Applied Water Science, 5, 335–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-014-0196-4
Kumar, M., & Puri, A. (2012). A review of permissible limits of drinking water. Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 16(1), 40–44. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5278.99696
Levallois, P., & Villanueva, C. M. (2019). Drinking water quality and human health: an editorial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040631. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Mukate, S., Wagh, V., Panaskar, D., Jacobs, J. A., & Sawant, A. (2019). Development of new integrated water quality index (IWQI) model to evaluate the drinking suitability of water. Ecological Indicators, 101, 348–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.01.034 ISSN 1470-160X.
Narsimha, A., & Sudarshan, V. (2017). Contamination of fluoride in groundwater and its effect on human health: a case study in hard rock aquifers of Siddipet, Telangana State, India. Applied Water Science, 7, 2501–2512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-016-0441-0
NPJ Clean Water. (2020). Editorial. Drinking water quality and the SDGs. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-020-00085-z. https://www.nature.com/npjcleanwater
Onda, K., LoBuglio, J., & Bartram, J. (2012). Global access to safe water: Accounting for water quality and the resulting impact on MDG progress. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(3), 880–894. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9030880
Pinto, V. G., Heller, L., & Bastos, R. K. X. (2012). Drinking water standards in South American countries: Convergences and divergences. Journal of Water and Health, 10(2), 295–310. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2012.087
Ponsadailakshmi, S., Sankari, S. G., Prasanna, S. M., & Madhurambal, G. (2018). Evaluation of water quality suitability for drinking using drinking water quality index in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu in Southern India. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 6, 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2017.10.005 ISSN 2352-801X.
Pontius, F. W. (1999). Complying with future water regulations. American Water Works Association. Journal, 91(3), 46.
Prasad, M., Sunitha, V., Reddy, Y. S., Suvarna, B., Reddy, B. M., & Reddy, M. R. (2019). Data on water quality index development for groundwater quality assessment from Obulavaripalli Mandal, YSR district, AP India. Data in Brief, 24, 103846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2019.103846 ISSN 2352-3409.
Prasanth, S. S., Magesh, N. S., Jitheshlal, K. V., Chandrasekar, N., & Gangadhar, K. (2012). Evaluation of groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and agricultural use in the coastal stretch of Alappuzha District, Kerala, India. Applied Water Science, 2, 165–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-012-0042-5
Ravikumar, P., Mehmood, M. A., & Somashekar, R. K. (2013). Water quality index to determine the surface water quality of Sankey tank and Mallathahalli Lake, Bangalore Urban district, Karnataka, India. Applied Water Science, 3, 247–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-013-0077-2
Rawat, K. S., Singh, S. K., Jacintha, T. G. A., Nemčić-Jurec, J., & Tripathi, V. K. (2017). Appraisal of long-term groundwater quality of peninsular India using water quality index and fractal dimension. Journal of Earth System Science, 126, 122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0895-y
Raychaudhuri, M., Raychaudhuri, S., Jena, S. K., Kumar, A. & Srivastava, R. C. (2014). WQI to monitor water quality for irrigation and potable use (DWM bulletin no. 71 Directorate of Water Management (ICAR), Bhubaneswar, India). http://www.iiwm.res.in/pdf/Bulletin_71.pdf
Federal Register. (2016). Federal Register/Vol. 81, No. 222, November 17, 2016 /Notices, pp. 81099-81114. World Health Organization. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. https://www.govinfo.gov/.Geneva
Shah, B., Kansara, B., Shankar, J., Soni, M., Bhimjiyani, P., Bhanushali, T., Shah, M., & Sircar, A. (2019). Reckoning of water quality for irrigation and drinking purposes in the Konkan geothermal provinces, Maharashtra. India. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 9, 100247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2019.100247 ISSN 2352-801X.
Singh, A. K., Mahato, M. K., Neogi, B., & Singh, K. K. (2010). Quality assessment of mine water in the Raniganj Coalfield Area, India. Mine Water and the Environment, 29, 248–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-010-0108-2
Soleimani, H., Nasri, O., Ojaghi, B., Pasalari, H., Hosseini, M., Hashemzadeh, B., Kavosi, A., Masoumi, S., Radfard, M., Adibzadeh, A., & Feizabadi, G. K. (2018). Data on drinking water quality using water quality index (WQI) and assessment of groundwater quality for irrigation purposes in Qorveh & Dehgolan, Kurdistan, Iran. Data in Brief, 20, 375–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.08.022
van Leeuwen, F. X. R. (2000). Safe drinking water: the toxicologist's approach. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 38(1), S51–S58. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-6915(99)00140-4. ISSN 0278-6915
Van der Aa, M. (2003). Classification of mineral water types and comparison with drinking water standards. Environmental Geology, 44, 554–563. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0791-4
Vasanthavigar, M., Srinivasamoorthy, K., Vijayaragavan, K., Ganthi, R. R., Chidambaram, S., Anandhan, P., Manivannan, R., & Vasudevan, S. (2010). Application of water quality index for groundwater quality assessment: Thirumanimuttar sub-basin, Tamilnadu, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 171, 595–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1302-1
Villanueva, C. M., & Levallois, P. (2015). Exposure assessment of water contaminants. In Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., (Eds.), Exposure assessment in environmental epidemiology (pp. 329–348). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-937878-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=8XfhCQAAQBAJ
Villanueva, C. M., Kogevinas, M., Cordier, S., Templeton, M. R., Vermeulen, R., Nuckols, J. R., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., & Levallois, P. (2014). Assessing exposure and health consequences of chemicals in drinking water: Current state of knowledge and research needs. Environmental Health Perspectives, 122, 213–221. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206229
Weinmeyer, R., Norling, A., Kawarski, M., & Higgins, E. (2017). Health law the safe drinking water act of 1974 and its role in providing access to safe drinking water in the United States. AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(10): 1018–1026. https://www.amajournalofethics.or
World Health Organization. (1993). Guidelines for drinking-water quality: Volume 1: Recommendations, 2nd ed. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/259956
WHO. (2004). Guidelines for drinking-water quality. Third Edition Volume 1 Recommendation. ISBN 92 4 154638 7. World Health Organization, Geneva 2004. https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/GDWQ2004web.pdf
WHO. (2006). Guidelines for drinking-water quality first addendum to third edition volume 1 recommendations. ISBN 92 4 154696 4. World Health Organization 2006.
WHO. (2011). Guidelines for drinking-water quality fourth edition. Isbn 978 92 4 154815 1. World Health Organization, Geneva 2011. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44584/9789241548151_eng.pdf?sequence=1
WHO (2017). Guidelines for drinking-water quality: The fourth edition incorporating the first addendum. World Health Organization. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. ISBN 978-92-4-154995-0. © World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549950
WHO (2018). A global overview of national regulations and standards for drinking-water quality. World Health Organization. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/national-regulations-and-standards-for-drinking-water-quality/en/
Yenugu, S., Vangala, S., & Badri, S. (2020). Monitoring of groundwater quality for drinking purposes using the WQI method and its health implications around inactive mines in Vemula-Vempalli region, Kadapa District, South India. Applied Water Science, 10, 202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-020-01284-2
Web sites
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com.TNN|Mar 9, 2015, 10:19 IST.
https://www.theverge.com/ Angela Chen, Sep 20, 2016
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Consent for publication.
Permitted.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reddy, A.G.S. A review on violation of drinking water specifications in water supply and research publications. Environ Dev Sustain 25, 1084–1100 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-02038-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-02038-z