Protecting groundwater for health
Rolling revision of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality
Protecting groundwater for health is included in the plan of work of the rolling revision of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.
Background
The need for a text on the control of health hazards in drinking-water from various sources, including groundwater, has been recognized since 1996. To fulfil this need, the DWQC agreed that a text on pathogen and indicator attenuation in groundwaters, the effectiveness of source protection measures and broader guidance on resource protection (including guidance on spring protection and bankside filtration) be developed in support of the Third Edition of the GDWQ.
Expected end-product(s)
Stand-alone supporting document, publication date 2005
Progress to date
The 1996 meeting of the P&C and Microbial Aspects WGs in Bad Elster, Germany, recommended preparation of a text on the control of health hazards in drinking-water from groundwater sources, and an outline was proposed at the joint meeting of the two WGs in Medmenham in 1998. The initiative was further discussed at the Berlin Coordinating Committee meeting (2000), and plans for the document, including substantial draft text, structure and scope, were reviewed at a dedicated planning meeting in February 2001. At the joint Microbial Aspects and P&C WG meeting in Adelaide (2001) on effective approaches to regulating microbial drinking-water quality, participants recommended that the document be completed as outlined, taking into account their comments. The scope and purpose of the monograph, as well as its status of preparation, were presented to the Chemical Aspects WG meeting in Tokyo (2002). The co-editors attempted to address the concerns raised by the GDWQ WG meeting (Geneva, 2004) with regard to the draft monograph and asked for feedback by 30 June 2004. The WGs authorized the authors to proceed with public domain review in July 2004. The GDWQ WG meeting (Geneva, 2005) endorsed the publication of the final draft. The document was published in 2005. The GDWQ WG meeting (Geneva, 2006) agreed to remove this item from the plan of work.