Evaluating impact on drinking water sources

From Opasnet
Jump to navigation Jump to search



Scope

Does the option affect drinking water resources?[1]

Definition

Water can carry many materials in suspension and except for laboratory distilled and deionized water it naturally always does contain contaminants. Which contaminants this could be, depends on the primary source of the drinking water (confined or unconfined aquifer or surface water), the water supplier (private or community well, small or large municipal water system), and treatment/distribution system. Depending on the primary source for drinking water, its resources can be affected through everything that affects the primary source. Water treatment is a delicate balancing act and water that is reasonably contaminant free (and safe) one moment can become dangerously contaminated the next because of accident, neglect, or some natural event. Barring accidents, the majority of dangerous contaminants that are liable to be in the drinking water of most Europeans are typically present in minute amounts. They may if at all contribute to health problems only after many years of exposure, making identification of the cause difficult, if not impossible. Examples of this type of contaminant are lead (that is usually dissolved out of distribution pipes or plumbing fixtures in the home), which causes intellectual deficits in children, and trihalomethanes (byproducts of chlorine disinfection) that have been linked to a slight, but significant, increase in the chance of getting certain cancers after 20 - 50 years of drinking chlorinated water.[1]

Result

Indicators:

There are no Eurostat Structural Indicators directly related to this key question.

There are no Eurostat Sustainable Development Indicators directly related to this key question but since wastewater treatment influences Water resources, two Sustainable Development Indicators related to the question can be found:

Additional Links:

Eurostat Theme indicators: See Screenshot for level on which to find Eurostat theme indicators on water: [2][1]

See also

European Environment Agency Indicators

EEA Water Indicators

covers inter alia

Eurostat long-term indicators:

Eurostat water long-term indicators

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 JRC: IA TOOLS. Supporting inpact assessment in the European Commission. [1]

This text is for information only and is not designed to interpret or replace any reference documents.

Retrieved from "https://en.opasnet.org/index.php?title=Evaluating_impact_on_drinking_water_sources&oldid=11424"