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Drinking Water

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Water: drinking
R. Rajagopal
Michael Wichman
University of Iowa, USA
Edwin Brands
University of Minnesota, Morris, USA
Definitions, availability, and distribution
of, and access to drinking water
Water that is made fit for human consump-
tion with minimal short- or long-term harm
is called potable or drinking water. Waters in
lakes and rivers with surface runoff from rain
and snowmelt are referred to as surface water,
whereas, water below the ground with rain and
snowmelt infiltration and percolation are referred
k to as groundwater or aquifers. Groundwater and
surface water serve as the two major sources of
drinking water.
Geologic evidence indicates that water of
volcanic origin has been flowing on earth for
most of its 3.8 billion years of existence. Water
is essential for all life forms and thus makes
the earth unique in many ways compared to
other planets in the solar system. As shown
in Table 1, over 96.5% of the earth’s water
is contained in the 1.34 million km3 of the
oceans (Shiklomanov 1993). All the ocean
water is saline. For an aqueous water sample,
concentration of other substances in it, such
as salts, is often measured as mg/L (milligrams
per liter) or ppm (parts per million), and for
low concentrations also as μg/L (micrograms
The International Encyclopedia of Geography.
Edited by Douglas Richardson, Noel Castree, Michael F. Goodchild, Audrey Kobayashi, Weidong Liu, and Richard A. Marston.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0338
k
Richardson wbieg0338.tex V1 - 05/21/2016 10:01 A.M. Page 1
per liter) or ppb (parts per billion). The salin-
ity of ocean water is around 3.5% or 35 000
ppm. For practical purposes, this water without
significant modifications is unfit for human
consumption and for most agricultural and
industrial uses.
In general, dissolved salt in fresh water is
less than 0.1%, brackish or estuarine water is
in the range of 0.1–3%, and ocean water is
in the range of 3–5%. As shown in Table 1,
ocean and saline groundwater comprise 97.5%
of earth’s water, which is unfit for human
consumption without major treatment. The
remaining 2.5% of the earth’s water, which has
low salinity, is termed “fresh water.” Over two
thirds (68.7%) of this fresh water is inacces-
sible and locked up in polar regions, and the
remaining 31.3% is made of fresh groundwater
(30.06), ice/permafrost (0.86), lakes (0.26),
soil moisture (0.05), atmospheric water (0.04),
swamps (0.03), rivers (0.01), and biological k
water (0.003). Due to the presence of rivers
across the global landscape, a column of other
water components in relation to the total global
river volume (unit of 1) is constructed and
presented in the last column of Table 1. For
every single drop of fresh river water, there
are 43 drops in lakes, 4967 such drops in
groundwater, and 637 243 drops of saline water
(Table 1).
After rivers, the second largest visible compo-
nent of fresh water is the lakes. The 91 000 km3
held by freshwater lakes constitute a mere
0.26% of total fresh water. The spatial distribu-
tion of the 10 largest freshwater lakes on this
planet, Lake Erie, and the remaining lakes as a
group is shown Table 2.
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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G

Table 1 Estimated global water distribution.

Volume in km3 % of fresh water % of all water Relative weight to rivers
Oceans, seas, and bays 1 338 000 000 96.538 631 132
Ice caps, glaciers, and permanent 24 064 000 68.697 1.736 11 351
snow
Saline groundwater 12 870 000 0.929 6 071
Fresh groundwater 10 530 000 30.061 0.760 4 967
Ground ice and permafrost 300 000 0.856 0.022 142
Freshwater lakes 91 000 0.260 0.007 43
Saline lakes 85 400 0.006 40
Soil moisture 16 500 0.047 0.001 7.8
Atmosphere 12 900 0.037 0.001 6.1
Swamps 11 470 0.033 0.001 5.4
Rivers 2 120 0.006 0.000 1.0
Biological water 1 120 0.003 0.000 0.5
Total 1 385 984 510 100.000 100.000 653 766
Adapted from Shiklomanov 1993, with permission from Oxford University Press, New York.

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Table 2 The volume of water held by the top 10 freshwater lakes of the world and Lake Erie.
Name Continent Volume (km3 ) % of total
Baikal Asia 23 600 25.93
Tanganyika Africa 19 000 20.88
Superior North America 12 232 13.44
Malawi (Nyasa) Africa 7 775 8.54
Michigan North America 4 918 5.40
Huron North America 3 538 3.89
Victoria Africa 2 760 3.03
Great Bear North America 2 292 2.52
Issyk-Kul (Ysik-Kol) Asia 1 738 1.91
Ontario North America 1 639 1.80
Erie North America 483 0.53
All others (estimated) 11 025 12.12
Total: 91 000 100.00
NB: Lake Erie was included so as to have a complete representation of the five lakes that constitute the Great Lakes, USA.
Data from LakeNet 2014; NOAA 2014; and Shiklomanov 1993.

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Collectively, Lake Baikal (25.93), the Great
Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario, and
Erie combined, 25.06), and Lake Tanganyika
(20.88) hold about 72% of all fresh water from
lakes on this planet. There are numerous debates
surrounding the pollution of, access to, and
ownership rights of waters of these lakes.
As seen from Tables 1 and 2, over 99% of
fresh water available on this earth for human
consumption is found as groundwater in aquifers
and a tiny fraction, less than 1%, is found in
rivers and lakes. There is also considerable
spatial and temporal variation and uncertainty
in the availability, occurrence, and distribu-
tion of such waters around the planet. Some
of the highly contested contemporary debates
surround issues related to the impact of global
climate change scenarios on the nature, scope,
spatial and temporal shift, severity, and magni-
tude of parameters impacting water availability
k for human use.
Nature is one of the most dominant forces
shaping the availability and distribution of fresh
water on this planet. The protection and provi-
sion of drinking water is a basic need, and many
would argue, a human right because an adequate
supply of drinking water is essential for human
life and wellbeing. Drinking water is accessed by
individuals and families throughout the world in
a variety of ways, ranging from filling cans from
surface waters to simply opening a tap from a
piped water supply. In recent decades, significant
progress has been made in providing access to
safe drinking water worldwide. Available statis-
tics indicate approximately 2.1 billion gained
access to improved drinking water between
1990 and 2011; and by 2011, nearly 90% of the
population used an improved drinking water
source, and more than half had access to piped
water (WHO/UNICEF 2013). Despite this
progress, more than 1 billion still lack access to
safe drinking water.
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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
Drinking water and the hydrological
cycle
Water in its three major forms of solid (ice),
liquid (water), and gas (vapor), has been cycling
the earth’s surface and subsurface for billions of
years influenced by physical, chemical, and bio-
logical processes. This water movement process is
referred to as the water or hydrological cycle, as
shown in Figure 1 (Ohio DNR 2011). This cycle
is one of the most important natural phenomena
and serves as the driving force behind many
other life cycle processes on this planet. The heat
energy from the sun is the main external fuel
that gets this process going on a continuous basis.
One of the most contested debates in recent
decades is the influence of human activities
(especially carbon emissions), as opposed to
nature, on changes to earth’s surface tempera-
ture. A concomitant debate also surrounds the
impact of such changes on spatial and temporal k
variability and uncertainty of extreme weather
events such as floods, hurricanes, and droughts.
Drinking water, to varying degrees, may be
obtained from several components of the hydro-
logical cycle (Figure 1). Key components of the
cycle include evaporation, transpiration, con-
densation, precipitation, snowfall, surface runoff,
infiltration, percolation, and groundwater seep-
age (USGS 2014). Solar heat enables evaporation
of water from oceans, lakes, and rivers and also
enables the release of water as vapor from vege-
tation to the atmosphere through transpiration.
As moist air rises in the atmosphere, it cools
and condenses to form clouds which then fall
to oceans, freshwater bodies, or land surfaces as
precipitation/rain and snow. Of the precipitation
falling on land, a portion becomes surface runoff
that finds its way to creeks, streams, rivers, and
lakes, eventually evaporating or emptying into
oceans. The remainder infiltrates the earth’s
surface to become groundwater, the majority of
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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G

Vap o
rs
co
clouds ol
an
d

to
pr

fo
e

r m t at i
ci
pi
Rain

on
Snow
Hail Water vapor Sun’s heat
ita tion
p r ec i p causes evaporation
Evapo rat ion fr o m

Ev
,
es

ap
t re

o
ro m

ra
Riv om
io n f
n s p i rat

t io
Tra

ers
fr
,
nts

n fr
on
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Evaporati

om o
ps
cro
Lakes &

ceans
Su e Su
runrface fac
off Suur noff runrface
Soil/porous earth r off
Infiltration and Septic Water
percolation Fresh ground water zone system well Ocean

Salty/brackish
water zone

Nonporous earth and confining rock

k k
Figure 1 A pictorial representation of the hydrological cycle. Ohio DNR, Division of Soil and Water
Resources 2011.

which percolates and seeps into surface water many watersheds that are a part of a larger
bodies such as rivers, lakes, and oceans. This river such as the Mississippi, Nile, Amazon, or
entire process has been repeating for billions Ganges. Hydrologically and spatially defined
of years with some uncertainty and significant catchment areas such as watersheds and river
variability over space and time. For example, at basins have played a major role in the adminis-
Cherrapunji, India, it rained 2300 cms in 1861, tration, planning, protection, and management
whereas at Arica, Chile, there was no rain for 14 of freshwater resources based on landform and
years (USGS 2014). landscape characteristics and use, in addition to
Creeks, streams, and rivers are characterized by politically derived administrative boundaries.
their watersheds. The watershed of a river is the
area of land that contributes to the river’s flow.
The final outfall from the river to a higher order Drinking water and regulations
river or the ocean will be represented by waters
from the entire watershed. The term “water-
Drinking water and public health
shed” is used to describe smaller units of land
that drain into creeks, streams, and rivers, and Sanitation, drinking water, and public health are
the term “river basin” is considered to include closely connected. On this planet, 2.5 billion

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people do not have access to adequate sanitation,
783 million do not have access to clean water,
and 85% of the population lives in the driest
half of the planet. An estimated 3.5 million die
each year due to inadequate sanitation, water
supply, or hygiene. Up to 90% of wastewater
in developing countries flows untreated into
rivers, lakes, and highly productive coastal zones.
Industry dumps an estimated 300–400 million
tons of polluted wastes into water bodies, and
nitrate from agriculture is one of the most
common chemical contaminants in surface
and ground waters (UN Water 2013). Min-
ing, forest operations, power generation, rapid
urbanization, land-use change, climate change,
and population growth have also become seri-
ous stressors on the quality of available fresh
waters.
In addition to human wastes, naturally occur-
ring contaminants such as fluoride and inorganic
k arsenic are found in high concentrations in a
number of countries such as Argentina, Chile,
China, India, Mexico, the United States, and
Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, 20 million and 45
million people are at risk of being exposed to
arsenic concentrations greater than their national
standard of 50 μg/L and the WHO guideline
value of 10 μg/L, respectively (WHO 2011;
Flanagan, Johnston, and Zheng 2012).
Combined with the sewer systems of the mid-
to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
filtration and eventually disinfection of water
contributed to near-elimination of diseases such
as cholera and typhoid that annually killed sig-
nificant numbers of urban dwellers. Although it
was nearly eradicated by the mid-1900s, cholera
has recently reemerged as a pre-eminent pub-
lic health threat in certain densely populated
developing nations: cholera and other diarrheal
diseases cause up to 5% of deaths worldwide.
Acute waterborne illnesses are relatively uncom-
mon in developed nations, where the focus is
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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
on reducing exposure to low concentrations of
organic and inorganic chemicals.
Drinking water treatment
Through the early to mid-1800s drinking water
systems in developed nations consisted mainly of
pipes for delivering water (e.g., New York and
London). Modern technologies for contaminant
removal and remediation include filtration,
flocculation and sedimentation, and disinfection.
Flocculation is utilized to coagulate particles that
settle out of the water as sediment in the treat-
ment process. Alum, metal salts, and synthetic
organic polymers are often used as flocculants.
The clear water above the sediment is filtered
to remove smaller particles. Typical filters are
gravel, sand, and charcoal. Public water systems
are often further treated with a disinfectant
such as chlorine, chloramines, chlorine dioxide,
ozone, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation to control k
biological contaminants in the distribution sys-
tem. Additional treatment such as ion exchange
may also be used to remove inorganic ions and
activated carbon to remove organic contaminants
(US EPA 2016a).
Various small-scale or household treatment
systems may also be utilized to treat private well
water or provide further treatment of tap water.
These systems include simple particulate filters,
water softening devices to remove hardness or
carbonates, anion exchange to remove con-
taminants such as nitrate, and activated carbon
filtration, distillation, reverse osmosis, and others
to treat specific contaminants (State Hygienic
Laboratory at The University of Iowa 2013).
Strategies for providing safe drinking water
include source water protection and treat-
ment of drinking water to meet health-related
water quality standards. A form of pollution
prevention, source water protection has been
increasingly employed in international and

WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
national water protection legislation includ-
ing the European Union’s Water Framework
Directive and the United States’ Safe Drinking
Water Act. As was the case in historical hydraulic
empires, large cities worldwide have continually
expanded their influence over available water
resources nearby to develop and sustain supplies
for their growing populations. Some, such as
New York City, have opted for a watershed
protection approach which has proven more cost
effective than filtering the 1.2 billion gallons
provided to its 9 million residents each day.
Despite significant advances in water treat-
ment technologies, drinking water quality is still
strongly linked to the quality of the source water.
Many countries actively promote source water
protection to prevent pollution of groundwater,
lakes, rivers, and streams that serve as drinking
water feeders for local communities.
In developed countries, only a very small part
of the treated piped water is consumed or used
k k
in food preparation. Most of the rest is used for
toilet flushing, washing, bathing, and landscape
irrigation. As a conservation and/or economic
measure, dual water supply systems are employed
by some for separating such uses.
Drinking water standards
Most if not all nations have adopted some form
of health-based drinking water standards that
specify the maximum allowable concentration
of various classes of contaminants, including
inorganic and organic compounds, pathogens,
sediment, and radioactive substances. In the
United States, drinking water standards are set
by the Safe Drinking Water Act (US EPA 2002),
in the European Union by the Drinking Water
Directive (EU 1998), in Canada by Guidelines for
Drinking Water Quality, in India by the Bureau
of Indian Standards, and in Australia by Drink-
ing Water Guidelines. Many nations in South
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America base their drinking water standards on
WHO guidelines, and drinking water standards
in China are also based on WHO guidelines
(WHO 2011). Regulated contaminants include
metals such as lead, mercury, and chromium,
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as
benzene and 1,2-dichloroethane, semi-volatile
organic compounds including pesticides and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and
bacteria such as coliforms and E. coli, as well as
viruses and radionuclides.
Table 3 compares selected drinking water
standards published by the US EPA (2016b), the
WHO (2011), and the European Union (EU
1998). Review of the comparison chart shows
that there are many similarities in regulated
contaminants, but there are also differences
in compounds regulated as well as regulatory
concentrations allowed. For example, the com-
pound atrazine, a common agricultural triazine
herbicide, is included in the US national primary
drinking water regulations at a concentration
of 0.003 mg/L and in WHO guidelines for
drinking water quality at a concentration of
0.002 mg/L, yet it is not a regulated parameter
in the European Union. Arsenic is a regu-
lated contaminant by all regulatory bodies at a
concentration of 0.01 mg/L.
Drinking water: current and future
challenges
There are numerous current and future chal-
lenges in the realm of drinking water, including
issues of access to resources, available quantity of
water, and threats to water quality. Gleick and
colleagues (2012) peg the basic human daily need
for water at 50 L per person, which includes
5 L of water for drinking and the balance for
hygiene, sanitation, and food preparation. In
2010, the United Nations recognized the human
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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G

Table 3 Comparison of selected drinking water standards (values in mg/L unless otherwise noted).
Analyte/parameter US EPA WHO European Union
Maximum contaminant Guideline value Parametric value
level (MCL)
Acrylamide * 0.0005 0.0001
Alachor 0.002 0.02 pesticides†
Aldrin 0.00003 0.00003‡
Alpha/photon emitters 15 pCi/L 0.5 Bq/L
Antimony 0.006 0.02 0.005
Arsenic 0.01 0.01 0.01
Atrazine 0.003 0.1 pesticides†
Benzene 0.005 0.01 0.001
Benzo[a]pyrene 0.0002 0.0007 0.00001§
Beta photon emitters 4 mrem/y 1 Bq/L
Bromate 0.01 0.01 0.01
Cadmium 0.005 0.003 0.005
Carbofuran 0.04 0.007 pesticides†
k Carbon tetrachloride 0.005 0.004 k
Chlordane 0.002 0.0002 pesticides†
Chromium 0.1 0.05 0.05
Copper 1.0|| , 1.3# 2 2
Cyanide 0.2 0.05
1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane 0.0002 0.001
(DBCP)
1,4-Dichlorobenzene 0.075 0.3
1,2-Dichloroethane 0.005 0.03 0.003
Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate 0.006 0.008
Dieldrin 0.00003 0.00003‡

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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G

Table 3 (Continued)
Analyte/parameter US EPA WHO European Union
Maximum contaminant Guideline value Parametric value
level (MCL)
Endrin 0.002 0.0006 pesticides†
Epichlorohydrin * 0.0004 0.0001
Ethylbenzene 0.7 0.3
Fecal coliform and E. coli MCL‡
Fluoride 4.0, 2.0|| 1.5 1.5
Heptachlor 0.0004 0.00003‡
Heptachlor epoxide 0.0002 0.00003‡
Lead 0.015# 0.01 0.01
Lindane 0.0002 0.002
Mercury 0.002 0.006 0.001
Methoxychlor 0.04 0.02 pesticides†
Nitrate (as N) 10 11.3 11.3
Nitrite (as N) 1 1 0.15
k Pentachlorophenol 0.001 0.009 k
Radium 228 and 228 (combined) 5 pCi/L
Selenium 0.05 0.04 0.01
Simazine 0.004 0.002 pesticides†
Styrene 0.1 0.02
Tetrachloroethene 0.005 0.04 0.01
Toluene 1 0.7
Total coliforms 5%** 0 0
Trichloroethene 0.005 0.02 0.01
Trituim 10 000 Bq/L 100 Bq/L
Uranium 30 μg/L 0.03

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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G

Table 3 (Continued)
Analyte/parameter US EPA WHO European Union
Maximum contaminant Guideline value Parametric value
level (MCL)
Vinyl chloride 0.002 0.0003 0.0005
Viruses (enteric) **

Xylenes—total 10 0.5
* US EPA – Each water system must certify annually, in writing, to the state (using third-party or manufacturers certification)
that when it uses acrylamide and/or epichlorohydrin to treat water, the combination (or product) of dose and monomer
level does not exceed the levels specified, as follows: Acrylamide = 0.05% dosed at 1 mg/L (or equivalent); Epichlorohydrin
= 0.01% dosed at 20 mg/L (or equivalent).
† Pesticides means: organic insecticides, organic herbicides, organic fungicides, organic nematocides, organic acaricides,
organic algicides, organic rodenticides, organic slimicides, related products (inter alia, growth regulators), and their relevant
metabolites, degradation, and reaction products. Only those pesticides which are likely to be present in a given supply need
be monitored.
‡ The parametric value applies to each individual pesticide. In the case of aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and heptachlor epoxide
the parametric value is 0.00003 mg/L.
§ Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – specified compounds are: benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene,
benzo(ghi)perylene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene.
|| US EPA National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations are nonenforceable guidelines regarding contaminants that may
k cause cosmetic effects (such as skin or tooth discoloration) or aesthetic effects (such as taste, odor, or color) in drinking water. k
# US EPA Action Level, if more than 10% of tap water samples exceed the action level, water systems must take additional
steps.
** US EPA surface water treatment rules require systems using surface water or groundwater under the direct influence
of surface water to (1) disinfect their water, and (2) filter their water or meet criteria for avoiding filtration so that the
following contaminants are controlled at the following levels: Cryptosporidium – 99% removal for systems that filter. Unfiltered
systems are required to include Cryptosporidium in their existing watershed control provisions, and Giardia lamblia – 99.9%
removal/inactivation, viruses – 99.99% removal/inactivation, Legionella – no limit, but EPA believes that if Giardia and
viruses are removed/inactivated according to the treatment techniques in the surface water treatment rule, Legionella will also
be controlled. Turbidity – for systems that use conventional or direct filtration, at no time can turbidity (cloudiness of water)
go higher than 1 nephelolometric turbidity unit (NTU), and samples for turbidity must be less than or equal to 0.3 NTU in
at least 95% of the samples in any month. Systems that use filtration other than conventional or direct filtration must follow
state limits, which must include turbidity at no time exceeding 5 NTU. HPC – no more than 500 bacterial colonies per
milliliter.
Source: Data from US EPA 2016a; WHO 2011; and European Union 1998.

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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
right to clean drinking water and sanitation
via Resolution 64/292. The human right to
water contrasts with the legal right to use water,
which, with some notable exceptions, is often
determined by ownership of overlying or adja-
cent land, connection to an official water supply
system, or purchase of a vessel containing water.
Societies worldwide developed local approaches
to protecting source waters and allocating drink-
ing water, but most modern legal principles
for water access and use are based on prior
appropriation, riparian rights, or permit systems.
More than 80% of people without access to
improved drinking water reside in slums and rural
areas of developing nations (WHO/UNICEF
2013). For some, drinking water is often
obtained by walking several kilometers carrying
containers weighing 20 kg or more. This burden
often falls on women and children whose health,
education, and general wellbeing suffer as a result
k (Gleick et al. 2012; Holden 2014).
Lack of access is partly due to mismatches in
distribution of fresh water and human popu-
lations: for example, India and China together
account for nearly a third of global popula-
tion but possess less than an eighth of global
freshwater resources. Access to safe drinking
water also varies widely with level of eco-
nomic development, ranging from less than
50% in many developing nations (sub-Saharan
Africa and Oceania) to nearly 100% in many
developed nations. Large populations in South
Asia, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and
Oceania lack access to improved drinking water
(Figure 2). In addition to differences in access,
average per capita consumption also varies
widely between developed (500–800 L/day)
and developing (60–150 L/day) nations, and in
some extreme cases may be as low as 20 L/day
(WHO/UNICEF 2013).
Access to drinking water may also be affected
by conflict over freshwater resources. There
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are several current and longstanding disputes
over international river basins including the
Nile, Jordan, Tigris-Euphrates, and Colorado.
In some cases, there are productive international
agreements (e.g., Nile River Basin Initiative)
and related processes in place.
Climate change is likely to impact drinking
water quality and quantity in at least two ways:
(i) via changes in precipitation patterns, and (ii)
via sea level rise. General forecasts for impacts
of global climate change invariably include an
intensification of climate extremes and more
rapid circulation of water within short-term
components of the water cycle (e.g., precip-
itation and evaporation). Increased average
temperatures are forecast to reduce snow pack in
high elevations of the Rockies (United States),
and to continue rapidly melting glaciers in the
Alps (Europe), Andes (South America), and
Himalaya (Central Asia), which will reduce
the storage capacity of these “water towers” k
that provide a significant part of major rivers’
(e.g., Amazon, Colorado, Ganges, Brahmaputra,
Rhine, and Yellow) flow. For low-lying small
island nations and coastal regions, sea level
rise increases the risk of inundation of drink-
ing water infrastructure and fouling of scarce
drinking water resources.
Regulation, governance, and economics of
drinking water are also significant factors in
determining access to and quality of drinking
water. There is no standard regulatory practice to
protect drinking water supplies; prevailing com-
munity norms suggests that local participation in
protection and provision of drinking water may
be ideal. In many cases, pollution of drinking
water sources is regional or global in scale, and
is thus outside the control of state, national,
river-basin or watershed-level governance.
Expensive centralized treatment and distribution
systems are but one model for protecting public
health and providing reliable drinking water.
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WAT E R : D R I N K I N G

91-100% 81-90% 55-80% <55% No data

Figure 2 Percentage of population using improved drinking water sources. Data for all nations is from the
k year 2011, except Libya (2001), Paraguay (2010), Romania (2008), and Venezuela (2007). Data for Poland covers k
urban areas only. The WHO/UNICEP Joint Monitoring Programme defines improved drinking water source as
“one that, by nature of its construction, or through active intervention, is protected from outside contamination,
in particular with contamination from faecal matter.” Data from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme
(JMP) (http://www.wssinfo.org/).

Other decentralized approaches that draw upon
traditional knowledge and experiences in collec-
tive water resource management and strategies,
such as rainwater harvesting for household use,
may be necessary in urban areas in both devel-
oping and developed nations. Unfortunately,
such approaches are often not supported or
encouraged by existing legal frameworks. A
wider array of reliable means and flexible policy
frameworks for providing safe drinking water
may be necessary to meet future demands.
Treated wastewater is increasingly viewed as
a “new” source of water for industrial, agri-
cultural, and domestic use. Treated wastewater
makes up more than 10% of total water demand
in Kuwait, Israel, Cyprus, Qatar, and Singapore,
and some 20 million m3 /day are reused in 43
nations. In the United States, treated municipal
wastewater has the potential to account for up
to a quarter of domestic supply. Beginning in
1969, Windhoek, Namibia, has had a history
of using treated wastewater for potable use.
In 2002, the reclamation plant capacity was
increased to 5.5 million gallons per day (MG/D)
or 21 000 m3 /day. Singapore also has systems in
place for the direct reuse of treated wastewater
for potable use, but this practice is relatively
uncommon. Indirect reuse of treated water (e.g.,
injection into an aquifer prior to use as drinking
water) is much more common; as of 2005, more
than 2000 European cities had indirect reuse
systems.

11

k

WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
Desalination is a major technology that has
been employed to remove salts from seawater,
brackish water, or saline groundwater. It is
energy intensive, costly, and creates significant
environmental impacts. Often, it is employed
by regions and nations with access to plenty
of energy, such as the Middle East, wealthy
nations, such as the United States, Japan, Spain,
Australia, and Israel, and nations with large
coastal populations and water scarcity, such
as India and China. In mid-2015, over 300
million people in 150 countries were estimated
to obtain 87 million m3 /day of treated water
(23 billion gallons per day) from over 18 400
desalination plants (IDA 2015). In recent years,
the desalination capacity of various regions has
grown considerably with much of the increase
devoted to industrial, agricultural, or munici-
pal users, based on the needs of the particular
region.
k Privatization of water supplies may also affect
access to improved drinking water. Water has
been viewed through much of modern history
as both commodity and public good. During
Roman times, for example, those paying for
household piped water subsidized the construc-
tion and supply of water to public wells. There
is considerable contemporary debate concerning
private versus public ownership of drinking
water systems, particularly in developing nations.
Some argue that private corporations would
be able to operate systems more efficiently and
effectively, while others assert that privatization
leads to violations of the human right to drinking
water. Notable examples of both failures (price
increases, decreased access to drinking water,
and ultimately protests and violence leading
to cancellation of contracts, as in Cochabamba,
Bolivia) and success stories (significant reductions
in child mortality in poor areas of Argentine
cities in the 1990s) make privatization fertile
ground for debate.
12
k
Richardson wbieg0338.tex V1 - 05/21/2016 10:01 A.M. Page 12
Drinking water quality issues include biolog-
ical (e.g., reemergence of cholera) and chemical
threats that are exacerbated by ever-expanding
industrial activity, growing human popula-
tion, increased consumption, and land-use
changes. Many if not most commercially sig-
nificant compounds can be found in surface
waters, and therefore in drinking water drawn
from these sources. More than 100 000 sub-
stances are in regular commercial use, and
health effects of many compounds are not
known, as toxicological studies have only been
completed on a small fraction of the total
universe of substances. Combined or synergis-
tic effects of consuming combinations of low
concentrations of myriad substances are also
unknown.
There continues to be significant concern asso-
ciated with contaminants that may be present
in drinking water that may not be removed by
standard water treatment processes, or that are k
not regulated and thus not included in regu-
lated monitoring programs. These contaminants
include, but are not limited to, pharmaceutical
compounds, personal care products, pesti-
cides, flame retardants such as polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), fabric protectors such
perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and the
environmental degradates or these, as well as
pathogens. Of particular concern are contami-
nants that have been characterized as endocrine
disruptors, which are associated with adverse
developmental and reproductive effects on fish
and wildlife, and possibly humans. Some persis-
tent compounds may travel via the food chain or
atmospheric circulation to contaminate drinking
water thousands of miles from their origin.
Treating drinking water to remove substances
such as pharmaceuticals is partially effective with
conventional treatment technologies such as
coagulation and filtration, and higher removal
rates can be achieved with advanced techniques
k
 k
such as ozonation, nanofiltration, or reverse
osmosis (WHO 2010).
Existing as well as new forms of fossil fuel
exploration must be balanced with the pro-
tection of drinking water sources. Hydraulic
fracturing in particular poses significant threats
to drinking water sources via contamination of
aquifers and surface water bodies with methane
and injected fluids. Existing regulatory frame-
works may be inadequate for coping with the
long-term and potentially irreversible damage to
some drinking water sources.
Due in part to public concern about the safety
of drinking water, bottled water has become a
rapidly growing industry. Global bottled water
consumption nearly tripled between 1997 and
2011, from 21 billion to over 60 billion gallons,
with the top 10 nations consuming nearly 75%
of bottled water and the fastest growth in China,
Mexico, the United States, and Brazil. In 2011,
the highest per capita consumption, of nearly
k k
65 gallons, was in Mexico. In general, there is
less regulatory oversight of bottled water than
of piped drinking water, but there may be some
cases in which bottled water is the only viable
alternative
Wbieg0677
Wbieg1027 SEE ALSO: Groundwater; Rivers and streams;
Surface water; Water and climate change; Water
Wbieg0888
Wbieg0793 and human rights; Water conflicts; Water
Wbieg0465 quality; Water rights; Water security
Wbieg0788
Wbieg0418
Wbieg0503 References
Wbieg0536
EU (European Union). 1998. “Council Directive
98/83/EC. On the Quality of Water Intended
for Human Consumption.” Official Journal of the
European Communities, L330/32.. http://eur-lex.
europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:
1998:330:0032:0054:EN:PDF (accessed February
22, 2016).
k
Richardson wbieg0338.tex V1 - 05/21/2016 10:01 A.M. Page 13
WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
Flanagan, Sara V., Richard B. Johnston, and Yan
Zheng. 2012. “Arsenic in Tube Well Water in
Bangladesh: Health and Economic Impacts and
Implications for Arsenic Mitigation.” Bulletin of
the World Health Organization, 90(11): 839–846.
DOI:10.2471/BLT.11.101253.
Gleick, Peter, Lucy Allen, Michael Cohen et al. 2012.
The World’s Water: The Biennial Report on Freshwater
Resources, vol. 7. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Holden, Joseph, ed. 2014. Water Resources: An Inte-
grated Approach. New York: Routledge.
IDA (International Desalination Association).
2015. http://idadesal.org/desalination-101/
desalination-by-the-numbers/ (accessed March
15, 2016).
LakeNet. 2014. “Lakes at a Glance.” http://www.
worldlakes.org/lakeprofiles.asp?anchor=volume
(accessed February 22, 2016).
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration – Great Lakes Environmental Research
Laboratory. 2014. “About Our Great Lakes: Lake
by Lake Profiles.” http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pr/
ourlakes/lakes.html (accessed February 22, 2016).
Ohio DNR (Department of Natural Resources),
Division of Soil and Water Resources. 2011.
http://water.ohiodnr.gov/portals/soilwater/pdf/
greatlakescompact/ODNR%20DS&WR-Fact%
20Sheet%2093-18%20The%20Hydrologic%
20Cycle.pdf (accessed March 12, 2016).
Shiklomanov, Igor. 1993. “World Fresh Water
Resources.” In Water in Crisis: A Guide to the
World’s Fresh Water Resources, edited by Peter H.
Gleick, 13–24. New York: Oxford University
Press.
State Hygienic Laboratory at The University of Iowa.
2013. “Well Water Quality and Home Treat-
ment Systems.” http://www.shl.uiowa.edu/env/
privatewell/homewater.pdf (accessed February 22,
2016).
UN Water. 2013. “Water Factsheets.” http://
www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/get-
involved/campaign-materials/water-factsheets/
en/ (accessed February 22, 2016).
US EPA (United States Environmental Protection
Agency). 2002. “Title XIV of the Public Health
Service Act, Safety of Public Water Systems (Safe
13

WAT E R : D R I N K I N G
Drinking Water Act).” http://www.epw.senate.
gov/sdwa.pdf (accessed February 22, 2016).
US EPA (United States Environmental Protec-
tion Agency). 2016a. “Drinking Water Contam-
inants – Standards and Regulations.” http://www.
epa.gov/dwstandardsregulations (accessed March
11, 2016).
US EPA (United States Environmental Protection
Agency). 2016b. “Table of Regulated Drinking
Water Contaminants.” http://www.epa.gov/
your-drinking-water/table-regulated-drinking-
water-contaminants (accessed March 11, 2016).
USGS (United States Geological Survey). 2014.
“The USGS Water Science School: Saline Water.”
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/saline.html (accessed
February 22, 2016).
WHO (World Health Organization). 2010.
Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. http://
www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/WHS_
WWD2010_guidelines_2010_6_en.pdf (accessed
February 22, 2016).
WHO (World Health Organization). 2011. Guide-
k lines for Drinking-water Quality, 4th edn.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/
9789241548151_eng.pdf?ua=1 (accessed February
22, 2016).
WHO (World Health Organization)/UNICEF
(United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund).
2013. “Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-water,
2013 Update.” http://www.unicef.org/wash/
files/JMP2013final_en.pdf (accessed February 22,
2016).
Further reading
Burtynsky, Edward. 2013. Water. Gottingen: Steidl.
Fishman, Charles. 2011. The Big Thirst: The Secret Life
and Turbulent Future of Water. New York: Free Press.
14
k
Richardson wbieg0338.tex V1 - 05/21/2016 10:01 A.M. Page 14
Gleick, Peter. 2014. The World’s Water, vol. 8: The
Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Washington,
DC: Island Press.
Salzman, James. 2013. Drinking Water: A History. New
York and London: Overlook Duckworth, Peter
Mayer.
Sedlak, David. 2014. Water 4.0: The Past, Present,
and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
Solomon, Steven. 2010. Water: The Epic Struggle for
Wealth, Power, and Civilization. New York: Harper
Collins.
Tiaji Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji. 2012. “Global Access
to Clean Drinking Water and Sanitation: US
and International Programs.” https://www.fas.
org/sgp/crs/misc/R42717.pdf
Websites
http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/
http://blueplanetnetwork.org/about/ k
http://thewaterproject.org
http://water.epa.gov/drink/
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/
http://water.worldbank.org/related-topics/
drinking-water
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
drinkingwater.html
http://www.psr.org/environment-and-health/
confronting-toxics/safe-drinking-water/
www.thepacificinstitute.com
k
 k
Richardson wbieg0338.tex V1 - 05/21/2016 10:01 A.M. Page 15

Please note that the abstract and keywords will not be included in the printed book, but
are required for the online presentation of this book which will be published on Wiley
Online Library (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/). If the abstract and keywords are not
present below, please take this opportunity to add them now.
The abstract should be a short paragraph of between 150– 200 words in length and there
should be 5 to 10 keywords

Abstract: Nature dominates in shaping the availability and distribution of fresh water. Only a fraction
of 1% of all water on the earth is available for human use. Over centuries, societies have devised
physical, biological, and chemical treatments to transform available water and make it fit for human
consumption as drinking water. An adequate supply of drinking water is essential for human life.
Currently, available drinking water per capita varies from 500–800 L/day in developed nations to
60–150 L/day in developing nations, and in some cases is as low as 20 L/day. Lack of availability
poses a significant burden on women and children who often carry heavy loads of water over long
distances. Mismatches in distribution of populations and resources, coupled with large-scale industrial
and agricultural consumption and pollution, and global climate change impacts, will test the resilience
of our economic, regulatory, and governance systems from the local to the global.
k Keywords: desalination; drinking water; groundwater; health and wellbeing; law and regulations; k
privatization; surface water; water and climate change; water and human rights; water quality

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