Setting public health priorities in drinking water quality and treatment

Abstract

The Water Services Association of Australia and the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment (CRC) convened a two-day meeting of 40 Australian experts in water technology, public health, toxicology, water management, epidemiology, microbiology and general water research in Melbourne in September 1996. Also present were two expert advisers from Europe and the United States. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss desirable directions in the field of drinking water quality research and management, especially in relation to public health priorities. The full proceedings of the meeting, which include brief summaries of the technical presentations and the round table discussions which took place, has been published jointly by the two sponsoring bodies and is available from the CRC in Adelaide. This article is a summary of the consensus reached by the group on a range of issues including research priorities, management initiatives and regulatory approaches. Show more