Drinking water quality standards

China adopted its own drinking water standard GB3838-2002 (Type II) enacted by Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2002.

Routine inspection and, where required, enforcement is enacted by means of penalties imposed by the European Commission on non-compliant nations.

Furthermore, the non-regulatory health-based screening levels (HBSLs) for cobalt, lithium, silver, strontium, and thallium published by the USGS and US EPA were also included in the analysis.

China adopted its own drinking water standard GB3838-2002 (Type II) enacted by Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2002.

[2] The following parametric standards are included in the Drinking Water Directive and are expected to be enforced by appropriate legislation in every country in the European Union.

[12] States and territories must implement rules that are at least as stringent as EPA's to retain primary enforcement authority (primacy) over drinking water.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Guideline for Drinking-water Quality (GDWQ) include the following recommended limits on naturally occurring constituents that may have direct adverse health impact: Organic species: The following table provides a comparison of a selection of parameters for concentrations listed by WHO, the European Union, EPA, and Ministry of Environmental Protection of China.

Example of comparison of drinking water quality parameters with thresholds (standards) in Kenya and Ethiopia. The chosen thresholds are from the country's standards or WHO health guideline or East Africa Standard (EAS) for natural potable water. [ 6 ]