3.5 Verification of drinking water quality (element 5)

Components:

• Drinking water quality monitoring

• Consumer satisfaction

• Short-term evaluation of results

• Corrective action

Verification of drinking water quality provides an assessment of the overall performance of the system and the ultimate quality of drinking water being supplied to consumers. This entails both monitoring drinking water quality and assessing consumer satisfaction.

Verification provides:

• a useful indication of problems within the water supply system (particularly the distribution system) and the necessity for any immediate short-term corrective actions or incident and emergency response;

• confidence for consumers and regulators regarding the quality of the water supplied.

Section 9.5 provides more information on verification of drinking water quality.