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AbstractRegulations governing the quality of drinking water within the European Community must be based on Directive 80/778/EC, although Member States may impose tighter or additional limits if they so wish. The Directive is substantially derived from standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1970. Revised 'Guidelines Values'for water contaminants were issued by WHO in 1984, and a further revision will be published in 1993. Modest changes in the guidelines set by WHO for microbiological parameters since 1970 have been accompanied by a large increase in the number of limits set for chemical parameters. This is particularly marked for organic compounds including pesticides and disinfection byproducts. The new WHO guidelines will inevitably have an impact on water supplies in the UK, but the timescale for a significant change in the outmoded EC Directive is uncertain.

AbstractSignificant differences in the way that basic water‐treatment processes are engineered in Europe and the US have been apparent for nearly 50 years. In the US, standardized and rather conservative treatment works have been in wide use for decades, whereas in Europe there is a wide range of designs, many having important advantages in terms of cost and efficiency. It is significant that in Europe, specialist treatment plant contractors make a major contribution to the development of new designs, whereas in the US this is mainly the responsibility of consultants. Drinking water quality standards are becoming more complex, and it is considered that the technologies used on the two continents for dealing with the newer contaminants will be similar. The system used in the US for developing water quality regulations, which is scientifically based and involves considerable consultation with the water industry, has major advantages over that used in the European Community.