DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.

Abstract

Prior to 1974, state agencies reported only on the adequacy of drinking water used by the carriers to the U. S. Public Health Service (USPHS). The standards gradually broadened and became minimum quality standards for all public water systems in the United States. Requirements changed as knowledge about water quality grew and as the ability to identify, control, or eliminate hazardous substances increased. Standards also changed as advancing technology altered the environment and affected water quality. Eventually the standards included sections dealing with water sources, sampling, and bacteriological, physical, chemical, and radiological characteristics of water quality. The paper reviews the development of standards from the first established in 1914, and includes discussions of microbiology, solid particles in suspension, inorganic and organic solutes and carcinogens.