Chapter 1: Introduction

Safe drinking water is essential to sustain life. Safe drinking water, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, does not represent any significant risk to health from short term and lifetime consumption (WHO 2022). Therefore, every effort needs to be taken to ensure that drinking water suppliers provide consumers with water that is safe to use.

The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (the Guidelines) are intended to provide a framework for good management of drinking water supplies that, if implemented, will assure safety at point of use. The Guidelines have been developed after consideration of the best available scientific evidence. They are designed to provide an authoritative reference on what defines safe, good quality water, how it can be achieved and how it can be assured. They are concerned both with safety from a health point of view and with aesthetic quality.

The Guidelines are not mandatory standards; however, they provide a basis for determining the quality of water to be supplied to consumers in all parts of Australia. These determinations need to consider the diverse array of regional or local factors, and take into account economic, political and cultural issues, including customer expectations and willingness and ability to pay.

The Guidelines are intended for use by the Australian community and all agencies with responsibilities associated with the supply of drinking water, including catchment and water resource managers, drinking water suppliers, relevant health authorities and drinking water regulators.