WATER QUALITY STANDARDSThe basic purpose of making guidelines or standards is to provide safe

drinking water to all the citizens. The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided guidelines for drinking water, which are advisory in nature, and are based on scientific research and epidemiological findings. The values of various water quality parameters recommended by WHO are the general guidelines. That is why, different countries have established their own water quality standards to meet their national priorities taking in to account their economic, technical, social, cultural, and political requirements. The PCRWR and Pakistan Standard Institution (PSI) have already drafted drinking water quality standards, however, the enforcement of these standards is still pending. This matter needs to be addressed on top priority basis. The WHO guidelines and standards proposed by national agencies like PCRWR, Pakistan Standard Institution (PSI), International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Food Development Authority (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other countries are given.

WHO Guidelines
A. Bacteriological Qualities
Source/Organisms a. All water intended for drinking (E. Coli or thermo tolerant Coliform bacteria) b. Treated water entering the distribution system (E. Coli or thermo tolerant coliform and total coliform bacteria) c.Treated water in the distribution system (E. Coli or thermo tolerant coliform and total coliform bacteria) Guideline Value Must not be detectable in any 100 ml sample

Must not be detectable in any 100 ml sample Must not be detectable in any 100 ml sample In the case of large supplies, where sufficient samples are examined, must not be present in 95% of samples taken throughout any 12-month period.

B. Chemicals of Health Significance

Inorganic Antimony Arsenic Barium Boron Cadmium Chromium mg/l 0.005 0.010 0.700 0.300 0.003 0.050 Inorganic Colour Taste, Odour. Turbidity Toluene Xylenes Ethyl-benzene Styrene Monochlorobenzene Chlorine chlorophenol 2,4-dichlorophenol mg/l 15 TCU 5 NTU 24-170 20-1800 2.4-200 4-2600 10-120 Inorganic Copper Cyanide Fluoride Lead Manganese Mercury Inorganic 1,2 dichlorobenzene 1,4-dichlorobenzene Dichlorobenzene Synthetic detergents Aluminum Ammonia Chloride Copper 600-1000 0.3-40 0.2 1.5 250 1 2,4,6-trichlorophenol 2-chlorophenol mg/l 2.000 0.070 1.500 0.010 0.500 0.001 mg/l 1-10 0.3-30 5-50 Inorganic Hardness,pH, DO Hydrogen sulfide Iron Manganese Sodium Sulfate TDS Zinc 2-300 0.1-10 mg/l 0.05 0.3 0.1 200 250 1000 3 Inorganic Molybdenum Nickel Nitrate(NO3) Nitrite(NO2) Selenium mg/l 0.070 0.020 50.00 03.00 0.010

C. Other Parameters

D. Disinfectants and Disinfectant by-Products

Standards Drafted by PCRWR

A. Bacteriological Standards (Urban and Rural water supplies)
Categories A. Piped Water Supplies A-1 Treated water entering the distribution system Faecal Coliform Coliform organisms 0/100 ml 0/100 ml Standards

A-2 Un-treated water entering the distribution system Faecal Coliform Coliform organisms Coliform organisms 0/100 ml 0/100 ml 3/100 ml

A-3 Water in the distribution system Faecal Coliform Coliform organisms 0/100 ml 0/100 ml 3/100 ml

Coliform organisms B. Un-piped Water Supplies Faecal Coliform Coliform Organisms

0/100 ml 10/100 ml

B. Standards for Inorganic Health Related Constituents

Constituent Fluoride Nitrate (NO3) Lead Mercury
*

Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l

HDL 1.000

MPL 1.500

**

45.000 0.050 0.001

**

45.000 0.050 0.001

Toxic Effects Dental fluorosis in children, excessive concentrative may cause crippling skeletal fluorosis. Infantile methaemoglobinaemia. Children particularly susceptible to effects of lead on central nervous system Neurological effects

Highest Desirable Level.

Maximum Permissible Level.

C. Other Parameters
Constituent Turbidity Colour Taste & Odour TDS Iron Manganese Magnesium Copper Zinc Sulfate Chloride pH Hardness Phenolic substances
*

Unit NTU PCU mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/1 mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l

HDL* MPL** 2.5 5 5 15 Unobjectionable 500 1500 0.1 1.0 0.05 0.5 30 150 0.05 1.5 5 15.0 200 400 200 600 7.0-8.5 6.5-9.2 200 500 0.001 0.002

Undesirable Effects Un-aesthetic, decrease in efficiency of disinfections Un-aesthetic Taste & Odour Fault or salty taste, corrosion or instruction Taste, discoloration Taste, discoloration Stomach disturbances Taste, corrosion of pipes and utensils taste Taste Corrosion, Laxative effect Taste, Corrosion Taste, Corrosion Corrosion or scale formation Taste
**

Highest Desirable Level.

Maximum Permissible Level.

Pakistan Standard Institution

Drinking Water Quality Standards A. Physical Requirements
S. # Characteristics Unit MAC
* **

MAC

1.
2. 3. 4.

Turbidity
Colour Taste & Odour pH

NTU
TCU -

5
5

25
50 Unobjectionable

7.0-8.5

6.5- 9.2

B. Chemical Requirements
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Total Dissolved Solids Chloride (Cl) Sulfate (SO4) Nitrate (NO3) Total Hardness (CaCO3) Nitrite (NO2) Total Ammonia Hydrogen Sulfide Fluoride (F) Iron (Fe) Zinc (Zn) Manganese (Mn) Copper (Cu) Calcium (Ca) Magnesium (Mg) Phenolic Substances Alkyl Benzyl Sulfates Carbon Chloroform Extract mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l 1000 200 200 20 Nil 0.1 Undetectable 0.3 5.0 0.1 1.0 75 50 0.001 0.5 0.2 1500 600 400 45 500 Nil 0.5 odour 1.5 1.0 15.0 0.5 1.5 200 150 0.002 1.0 0.5

C. Limits of Toxic Substances

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Arsenic (As) Cadmium (Cd) Chromium (Cr) Cyanide (Cn) Lead (Pb) Selenium (Se) Radionaclider mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l Uo/l 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.20 0.05 0.20 1000 -

D. Biological Requirements (Chemical Indicators of Pollution)

1. 2. 3. 4. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) Ammonia (NH3) Grease mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l 10 6 0.5 1 -

E. Limits for Bacteriological Contaminants

Acceptable bacterial standards for potable water supplies: i) Standard plate count (SPC) / mls No more than 100

ii)

Presumptive test for Coliform

Negative

iii)

Most probable number (MPN)

< 101 subject to the frequency of opportunity for water analysis.

* Maximum Acceptable Concentration.

** Maximum Allowable Concentration.

International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) Standards

A. Chemical Quality
Characteristics Arsenic (As) Barium (Ba) Cadmium (Cd) Chromium (Cr) Chloride (Cl) Copper (Cu) Cyanide (Cn) Fluoride (F) Iron (Fe) Lead (Pb) Manganese (Mn) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l Standard 0.05 1 0.005 0.05 250 1 0.1 4 0.3 0.005 0.05 Characteristics Mercury (Hg) Nitrate (NO3) Nitrite (NO2) Selenium (Se) Silver (Ag) Sulfate (SO4) Phenolic PCB TDS Zinc (Zn) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l Standard 0.001 10 1 0.01 0.025 250 0.001 0.0005 500 5 -

B. Microbiological Quality
Total Plate Count/ml Coliform (MPN/100 ml) CFU/ml MPN/100 ml <200 <2,20 Escherichia coli Salmonella MPN/100 ml CFU/100ml

Food Development Authority (FDA) Water Standards

Characteristics Arsenic (As) Barium (Ba) Cadmium (Cd) Chromium (Cr) Chloride (Cl) Copper (Cu) Iron (Fe) Lead (Pb) Manganese (Mn) Mercury (Hg) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l Standard 0.05 1 0.01 0.05 250 1 0.3 0.05 0.05 0.002 Characteristics Nitrate (NO3) Selenium (Se) Silver (Ag) Sulfate (SO4) Phenolic Ra 226 activity (pCi/l) Total Beta activity (pCi/l) TDS Zinc (Zn) Coliform (MPN/100 ml) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l Standard 10 0.01 0.05 250 0.001 5 8 500 5 <2,20

Indian Water Quality Standards

A. Physical and Chemical Standards
Sr. #. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 17 18 19 20 21 22 Characteristics (mg/l) Turbidity (NTU) Colour (TCU) Taste & Odour pH TDS Hardness Chloride Sulfate Phenolic Compounds Anionic Detergents Arsenic Cadmium Chromium Cyanide AcceptMarginal Sr. #. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 23 24 25 26 27 28 Characteristics (mg/l) Fluoride Nitrate (N) Calcium Magnesium Iron Manganese Copper Zinc Lead Selenium Mercury Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (g/l) Gross Alpha Activity Gross Beta Activity pico curie/l Acceptable 1.0 45 75 30 0.1 0.05 0.05 5.0 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.2 3 (pCi/l) 30 (pCi/l) Marginal 1.5 45 200 150 1.0 0.5 1.5 15 0.1 0.001 0.2 3 30 -

Able 2.5 10 5 25 Unobjectionable 7-8.5 500 200 200 200 0.001 0.2 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.05 6.5-9.2 1500 600 1000 400 0.002 1.0 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.05

The figures indicated under the column Acceptable are the limits up to which the water is generally acceptable to the consumers. Figures in excess of those mentioned under acceptable render water not acceptable, but still may be tolerated in absence of alternative and better source but up to the limits indicated under column Marginal above which the supply will have to be rejected.
B. Bacteriological Standards

i) Water entering the distribution system coliform count in any sample of 100 ml should be zero. ii) Water in the distribution system shall satisfy all the three criteria indicated below: E.Coli count in 100 ml of any sample should be zero; Coliform organisms no more than 10 per 100 ml shall be present in any sample; and Coliform organisms should not be detectable in 100 ml of any two consecutive samples or more than 50% of the samples collected for the year. iii) Individual or small community supplies.
E.Coli count should be zero in any sample of 100 ml and coliform organisms should not be more than 3 per 100 ml.

C. Virological Aspects

vel of 0.5 mg/l of free chlorine residual for one hour is sufficient to inactivate virus, even in water that was originally polluted. This free chlorine residual is to be insisted in all disinfected supplies in areas suspected of endemicity of infectious hepatitis to take care of the safety of the supply from virus point of view, which incidentally takes care of the safety from the bacteriological point of view as well. For other areas 0.2 mg/l of free chlorine residual for half an hour should be insisted. The water quality standards developed and enforced by various countries are given in the tables from 3.8 to 3.10.

3.8

Water Quality Standards of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Brunei.

A. Chemical Quality
S. # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Substances Arsenic (As) Barium (Ba) Borate (BO3) Cadmium (Cd) Chromium (Cr) Chloride (Cl) Chlorine (Cl2) Copper (Cu) COD Cyanide (CN) Fluoride (F) Hardness (CaCO3) Iodine (I) Iron (Fe) Lead (Pb) Manganese (Mn) Mercury (Hg) Mineral Oil Nitrate (NO3) Nitrite (NO2) Organic Matter Selenium (Se) Silver (Ag) Surfactant Sulfide (S) Sulphate (SO4) Phenolic Ra 226 activity Total Beta activity TDS Zinc (Zn) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pCi/l pCi/l mg/l mg/l Indonesia 0.05 0.1 250 0.5 0.05 1 170 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.001 ND ND 1 ND 200 500 Singapore 0.05 1 0.03 0.01 0.05 0.05 0.01 2 1 0.05 2 1 ND 45 0.005 0.003 0.01 ND 0.05 ND 30 1 Malaysia 0.05 30 0.01 0.05 1 0.01 2 0.05 2 0.001 ND 45 0.005 3 0.01 ND 0.05 ND 5 Thailand 0.05 1 0.005 0.05 250 1 0.1 1 100 0.3 0.05 0.05 0.002 4 0.01 0.05 250 0.001 500 5 Philippines 0.05 0.01 0.05 1 0.01 2 1 0.05 0.1 0.001 45 0.01 5 0.01 2 0.001 5 Brunei <0.003 <0.02 0.2 <0.002 <0.01 <0.01 0.09 <0.01 0.01 <0.005 <0.01 -

B. Microbiological Quality
1 2 3 4 Total Plate Count/ml Coliform (MPN/100 ml) Escherichia coli Salmonella/100 ml Staphylococcus 5 Aureus/250 ml Pseudomonas 6 7 Aeruginosa/250 ml Faecal Streptococci/20 ml MPN/20ml CFU/250ml 0 0 1/100 ml CFU/ml MPN/100ml MPN/100ml CFU/100ml CFU/250ml 0 Max 1x104 <2.20 0 Max.1x105 0/250 ml 0 0 Max.10 0 <2,20 Negative <2.20 Nil Nil -

3.9

Water Quality Standards of Vietnam, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan.

A. Chemical Quality
Sr.# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Substances Arsenic (As) Ammonium (NH4) Barium (Ba) Borate (BO3) Cadmium (Cd) Chromium (Cr) Chloride (Cl) Chlorine (Cl2) Copper (Cu) COD Cyanide (Cn) Fluoride (F) Hardness (CaCO3) Iodine (I) Iron (Fe) Lead (Pb) Manganese (Mn) Mercury (Hg) Nitrate (NO3) Nitrite (NO2) Organic Matter Selenium (Se) Silver (Ag) Sulphate (SO4) Phenolic Total Beta activity TDS Zinc (Zn) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pCi/l mg/l mg/l Vietnam 0.05 10 0.01 1 0.01 2 0.05 2 45 3 0.01 5 Japan <0.2 <0.5 <0.05 <0.05 <350 <0.05 <0.01 <1.5 100-500 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <5.0 <0.05 <250 <0.001 <1000 <5 China 0.05 0.01 0.05 250 1 0.01 0.8 250 0.3 0.05 0.05 0.001 10 ND 0.1 0.01 0.05 250 500 5 H. Kong 0.01 1.5 0.7 0.3 0.003 0.05 250 2 0.07 1.5 0.3 0.01 0.5 0.001 50 3 0.01 250 1.0 Bq/I 1000 3 Korea 0.05 0.5 0.01 0.05 150 1 ND 1 300 0.3 0.1 0.3 ND 10 0.01 200 0.005 1 Taiwan 0.05 0.01 0.05 250 1 0.01 0.8 250 0.3 0.05 0.05 0.001 10 ND 0.1 0.01 0.05 250 500 5

B. Microbiological Quality
1 2 3 Total Plate Count/ml Coliform (MPN/100 ml) Escherichia coli CFU/ml MPN/100ml MPN/100ml <10 2.2 <15.100 100 3 <2.2 <100 0 0/100 ml

3.10

Water Quality Standards of Saudi Arabia, Guam, Australia, Argentina, Mexico and Canada.

A. Chemical Quality
Sr.# Substances 1 Arsenic (As) 2 Ammonium (NH4) 3 Barium (Ba) 4 Borate (BO3) 5 Cadmium (Cd) 6 Chromium (Cr) 7 Chloride (Cl) 8 Chlorine (Cl2) 9 Copper (Cu) 10 COD 11 Cyanide (Cn) 12 Fluoride (F) 13 Iron (Fe) 14 Lead (Pb) 15 Manganese (Mn) 16 Mercury (Hg) 17 Nitrate (NO3) 18 Nitrite (NO2) 19 Selenium (Se) 20 Silver (Ag) 21 Surfactant 22 Sulfide (S) 23 Sulphate (SO4) 24 Phenolic 25 Ra 226 activity 26 Total Beta activity 27 TDS 28 Zinc (Zn) Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pCi/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pCi/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l pCi/l pCi/l mg/l mg/l S. Arabia Guam Australia 0.05 0.05 0.05 1 1 1 30 0.01 0.01 0.005 0.05 0.05 0.05 250 250 0.01 1 1 1 3 0.05 0.1 1.5 0.3 0.3 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 2 0.002 0.001 10 45 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.05 0.05 0.05 250 250 0.001 0.001 3 5 1 8 500 5 5 5 Argentina Mexico Canada 0.05 0.05 0.025 0.2 0.5 0.7 1 5 0.01 0.005 0.005 0.05 0.05 350 250 0.5 0.1 2 1 0.10 0.2 2 2 2 0.3 0.05 0.02 0.01 0.1 0.05 0.001 0.001 0.001 45 10 45 0.1 3.2 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.5 500 250 0.001 1500 500 5 3 -

B. Microbiological Quality
1 2 3 4 Total Plate Count/ml Coliform (MPN/100 ml) Escherichia coli Pseudomonas Aeruginosa/250 ml CFU/ml MPN/100ml MPN/100ml CFU/250ml <2.20 <1 Max.10 500 3 Negative Negative 100 <2 100 0 0

AboveDataSource:http://www.pcrwr.gov.pk/wq_standards.htm