This textbook provides a review of the problems associated with the supply of drinking water in the developed world. This second edition includes an overview of current and emerging problems such as advances in chemical and microbial analysis and the vulnerability of water supplies to terrorist attacks.

On cover: "Problems and solutions."

Part I. Introduction to water supply. 1. The water business -- 2. Drinking water standards and risk -- 3. A quick guide to the problems -- Part II. Problems with the Resource. 4. Sources of water -- 5. Nitrate and nitrite -- 6. Pesticides and organic micro-pollutants -- 7. Endocrine disrupting compounds and PPCPs -- 8. Odour and taste -- 9. Metals -- 10. Hardness and total dissolved solids -- 11. Algae and algal toxins -- 12. Radon and radioactivity -- 13. Pathogens -- Part III. Problems Arising from Water Treatment. 14. Water treatment -- 15. Aluminum and acrylamide -- 16. Odour and taste -- 17. Fluoridation -- 18. Disinfection by-products -- 19. Monitoring and removal of pathogens -- Part IV. Problems Arising in the Distribution System. 20. The distribution network -- 21. Aesthetic quality -- 22. Asbestos -- 23. Coal tar linings and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- 24. Animals on tap -- 25. Pathogens in the distribution system -- Part V. Problems in Household Plumbing. 26. Household plumbing systems -- 27. Corrosion and metal contamination from pipework and fittings -- 28. Micro-organisms, fibres and taste -- Part VI. The Water We Drink. 29. Alternatives to tap water -- 30. Water security in the twenty-first century -- 31. Final analysis.