Drinking-water quality and preventing water-borne infectious disease
Water-borne infectious disease caused by viruses, bacteria, protozoa an other microorganisms is associated with outbreaks and background rates of disease in developed and developing countries worldwide.


Key WHO publications on pathogens in drinking water and on drinking water and infectious disease include:

Assessing microbial safety of drinking water: Improving approaches and methods

Water treatment and pathogen control: Process efficiency in achieving safe drinking water

Safe piped water: Managing microbial water quality in piped distribution systems

Managing waters in the home: accelerated health gains from improved water supply

Other information that may be of interest

Guidelines for drinking-water quality

Work in progress and drafts for the "Rolling Revision" of the Guidelines

Water safety plans

Emerging issues in water and infectious diseases

Heterotrophic plate count and drinking-water safety

Quantifying public health risks in the WHO guidelines fro drinking-water quality [pdf 307kb]

Waterborne zoonoses: Identification, causes and control

Pathogenic mycobacteria in water

Evaluation of the H2S method for the detection of fecal contamination of drinking-water