New guidelines issued by UN health agency aim to keep drinking water clean

New recommendations released today by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) aim to ensure the safety of drinking water supplies – everything from what is piped into homes to the rural wells provided to refugee camps in an emergency.

“This is an extremely important change in orientation from a public health point of view,” Dr. Kerstin Leitner, WHO Assistant Director-General for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments, said of the new Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. “The revised Guidelines will allow public health management to focus on prevention of microbial and chemical contamination of water supplies.”

Drinking water regulations traditionally have emphasized testing water samples for levels of chemical and biological contaminants. Relying on this approach, WHO said, means that problems are detected long after water is consumed – a remedial rather than preventive approach.

The new recommended approach for regulators and operators is to manage drinking water quality in a holistic, systematic fashion from source to tap, including by ensuring water reservoirs, or, local wells are not at risk of contamination from human and animal waste, to checking basics like the regular changing of water filters.

The guidelines also include new guidance on their application in specific settings such as emergencies and disasters, as seen in Darfur, Sudan, and refugee camps in neighbouring Chad, where a hepatitis E outbreak is currently sweeping through camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).