Zmiana oceny jakości wody do picia w świetle poprzednio i obecnie obowiązujących przepisów

The quality of the water supplied to the user is generally claimed to be poor. Making use of the results obtained in 2000, a comparative assessment of drinking water quality was carried out in terms of former and present national regulations. It was found that the evaluated number of users exposed to excessive concentrations of ammonia, arsenic, b(a)p, trichloromethane, aluminium, cadmium, nitrates, chlorides and fluorides was the same, irrespective of whether the previous or the present water quality regulations were taken into account. However, when water quality was assessed in terms of recent regulations, the exposure to excessive concentration of iron and manganese became twice as high, to coloured matter 2.5 times as high, to turbidity 5 times as high, and to lead 70 times as high as when use was made of the former regulations. Excessive lead concentrations were detected predominantly in groundwater, which is generally regarded as being safe. On the basis of the results obtained, the following geneneralisations can be made: To reduce health hazards, it is necessary to implement advanced water treatment technologies. On the other hand, unlike the common belief, in 90% of instances the quality of drinking water supplied to the users is good, irrespective of whether assessed in previous or recent regulations.