The relationship between tap water and health has been a topic of public concern and calls for better management in Canada since well-publicized contamination events in two provinces (Ontario and Saskatchewan) in 2000-2001. This study reports the perspectives on health risks from tap water and corresponding use of, and spending on, bottled water in a number of different communities in Canada. I...

The prevalence of water quality incidents and disease outbreaks suggests an imperative to analyse and understand the roles of operators and organisations in the water supply system. One means considered in this paper is through human reliability analysis (HRA). We classify the human errors contributing to 62 drinking water accidents occurring in affluent countries from 1974 to 2001; define the ...

Water distribution systems are complex interconnected networks that require extensive planning and maintenance to ensure that the drinking water is delivered to the consumers. Lack of adequate water supply in urban areas is due to aging water distribution systems and inadequate maintenance of this critical infrastructure (Bhave 2003). The reliability of such deteriorating systems is continually...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require nations to ensure adequate water supply for all. For Kazakhstan, this means that rural areas will need much stronger attention as they have been rather neglected in efforts to comply with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This study aims to establish a baseline data concerning the current situation in villages that will need interventions ...

Two typical rural water utilities in Beijing, China were chosen to describe the principles and applications of water safety plans (WSP), to provide a methodological guide for the actual application and improve the quality of rural drinking water quality, and to establish an appropriate method for WSP applied in rural water supply. Hazards and hazardous events were identified and risk assessment...

This paper introduces a surrogate model to identify an optimal exploitation scheme, while the western Jilin province was selected as the study area. A numerical simulation model of groundwater flow was established first, and four exploitation wells were set in the Tongyu county and Qian Gorlos county respectively so as to supply water to Daan county. Second, the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) m...

This paper summarizes the currently available information on gasoline exposure to the general population. In general, the largest contribution to the time weighted exposures results from exposures while indoors, which are influenced by the outside air, indoor sources, and attached garages. Personal activities, including refueling and commuting, contribute significantly higher exposures but last...

The problem of chemically contaminated water supplies are in general terms followed by a description of three examples of water supply problems in China. A large-scale prospective epidemiological study, now in the early planning stages, to be carried out in China is also described.

Seventeen years ago we reported the public health success of reduced lead exposure of mothers in Glasgow, achieved between 1977 and 1980 by increasing the pH of the water supply from 6.3 to 9.0 with lime to reduce plumbosolvency.A further reduction in plumbosolvency has now been made by addition of orthophosphate to the water supply. We report here on striking changes in maternal blood lead con...

Surface water is the main source of fresh water supply in Ceará, lying in the semi-arid Northeast of Brazil.