Water for human consumption - Health risks, control and regulation

Access to safe drinking water remains a major issue in the world today. The target set for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG ) was to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. In March 2012, a report published by WHO and UNICEF showed that in 20 years, the number of people with access to drinking water had increased by more than two billion, exceeding the target set by the Millennium Development Goals.

Nevertheless, at the end of 2010, 783 million people still had no access to safe drinking water. What's more, 1.5 million children die every year from diseases linked to inadequate access to drinking water.

The quality of water intended for human consumption remains a major issue, even in developed countries.

A European study surveyed all outbreaks of waterborne gastroenteritis in Europe between 1994 and 2004. Eighty-six epidemics were recorded. Water quality was analyzed in 88% of cases, but pathogens or indicators of fecal contamination were not always detected during these episodes. The pathogen responsible for the outbreak was isolated in only 54% of cases. Protozoa (Cryptosporidium sp. or Giardia sp.) were responsible for 89% of outbreaks linked to treated surface water, and 46% of those linked to groundwater.

Protozoa are also the leading identified cause of water-related epidemics in the USA , accounting for around 21% of epidemics recorded in the USA between 1991 and 2000, while bacteria and viruses account for 18% and 6% respectively. Chemical agents such as copper, lead and nitrites are responsible for around 16% of all waterborne illnesses in this country.

For these reasons, regulations concerning water intended for human consumption have evolved considerably in recent years, and now take into account the principles of health risk management.