2.3 Benefits of the Framework

Management of drinking water quality through a comprehensive preventive strategy benefits the water industry by providing an overall framework that:

• protects and promotes public health by assuring safe and aesthetically pleasing drinking water for consumers

• enables an in-depth systematic evaluation of water systems, the identification of hazards and the assessment of risks

• provides health-based and aesthetic guideline values including microbial health-based targets to ensure that preventive strategies, such as multiple barriers, for managing water quality risk and protecting public health are robust and reliable

• fosters a holistic approach to, and understanding of, management of drinking water quality

• emphasises prevention and places drinking water quality monitoring in an appropriate verification role

• introduces a common and standard approach throughout the industry, which establishes due diligence and credibility

• supports various agencies and stakeholders to better undertsand and identify their areas of responsibility, which enables a cooperative and coordinated approach

• provides a framework for communication with the public and with employees

• addresses the uncertainties in setting accurate guideline values when insufficient scientific data are available

• identifies future research needs for individual systems and throughout the water industry, and assists the development of improved risk assessment for specific hazards.