1.4 Community consultation

The Guidelines are intended to provide consumers with safe and aesthetically pleasing water, and ultimately it is consumers who will be the final judges of water quality. It is vitally important that consumers are viewed as active partners in making decisions about drinking water quality and the levels of service to be adopted. Community expectations and willingness to pay must be considered. It is the responsibility of drinking water suppliers to keep the community fully informed about water quality, existing problems and needs for improvement.

Consumers also need to be informed about their responsibilities in relation to domestic plumbing and of any possible issues associated with the interaction of mains water with this plumbing.