Water Quality Standards

Water quality standards (WQS) are provisions of state, territorial, authorized tribal or federal law that describe the desired
condition of a water body and the means by which that condition will be protected or achieved. Water bodies can be used
for purposes such as drinking, industrial use, recreation (e.g. swimming and boating), scenic enjoyment, and fishing and
are the home to many aquatic organisms. To protect human health and aquatic life in these waters, states, territories and
authorized tribes establish WQS. WQS form a legal basis for controlling pollutants entering the waters.

Many developed countries specify standards to be applied in their own country. In Europe, this includes the European
Drinking Water Directive and in the United States the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes
standards as required by the Safe Drinking Water Act. For countries without a legislative or administrative framework for
such standards, the World Health Organisation publishes guidelines on the standards that should be achieved. China
adopted its own drinking water standard GB3838-2002 (Type II) enacted by Ministry of Environmental Protection in
2002.

Drinking water is water intended for human consumption for drinking and cooking purposes from any source. It includes
water (treated or untreated) supplied by any means for human consumption. The quality standards for drinking water in
India is prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards laid down IS 10500 : 2012 and is shown below.
Physical Characteristics
Biological Characteristics
Chemical Characteristics
 Biological characteristics of water
i) Bacteria

 smallest living thing

 size 0.5 to 2 microns in diameter & about 1 to 10 microns in length
 bacteria could multiply and cover the earth in 36 hrs if the conditions were correct

Based on shape bacteria are classified into :

 rod shape ==> bacilli

 spherical ==> cocci
 spiral ==> spirilla
 comma ==> vibrio

Classification of bacteria based on oxygen requirement:

 Aerobic bacteria: Those which require oxygen for their survival.

 Anaerobic bacteria: Those which flourish in the absence of free oxygen.
 Facultative bacteria: Those which can survive with or without free oxygen.

ii) Virus

 smaller than bacteria

 smallest known biological structure to contain all the genetic information necessary for reproduction
 cannot live by themselves (do not have ability to synthesize new compounds) require a host
 obligate parasitic particles consisting of DNA
 need a host to live, makes enumeration difficult
 very difficult to control

iii) Protozoa

 lowest form of animal life: single cell

 aerobic or facultative anaerobic
 free-living or parasitic
 pathogenic or non-pathogenic, microscopic or macroscopic
 are highly adaptable and distributed in natural water, but only a few are pathogenic
 broken in four classes based on motility
o Ciliata
o Mastigophora
o Sarcodina
o Sporozoa

iv) Fungi

 aerobic multicellular, nonphotosynthetic, heterotrophic

 most are saprophytes, obtaining food from dead organic matter
 principle micro-organism along with bacteria that decomposes carbon
 without fungi, the carbon cycle would cease and organic matter would build up
 ideal conditions are high moisture and low pH
v) Algae

 form of aquatic plants, photosynthetic organisms

 microscopic & macroscopic forms
 Cause eutrophication phenomena
 Cause taste and odour problems when decayed.

Pathogen Indicators

 Analysis of water for all known pathogens would be very time consuming and expensive
 usually specific pathogens are not tested for unless they are suspected, instead indicator organisms are used
 indicator organisms suggest that contamination had occurred and the level of contamination

Ideal indicator organism should be :

 applicable to all types of water

 always present when pathogens present
 always absent when pathogens absent
 routine analysis with no confusion
 safe for laboratory personnel and not be a pathogen
Selected indicator organism is Escherichia Coli(E.Coli). Features of them are:
 they belong to fecal coliform group
 most waterborne pathogens are introduce through fecal contamination
 since E. Coli are found exclusively in the intestinal tract of warm blooded animals and are excreted in large
numbers in feces
 are non-pathogenic and are believed to have a longer survival rate outside the body than most pathogens
 die off is logarithmic, allowing comparison of number of surviving organisms to time lapse since contamination