Setting action levels for drinking water: Are we protecting our health or our economy (or our backs!)?

Clean and healthy drinking water is important for life. Drinking water can be drawn from streams, lakes and rivers, directly collected (and stored) from rain, acquired by desalination of ocean water and melting of ice or it can be extracted from groundwater resources. Groundwater may reach the earth’s surface in the form of springs or can be extracted via dug or drilled wells; it also contributes significantly to river baseflow. Different water quality issues have to be faced when utilising these different water resources. Some of these are at present largely neglected in water quality regulations. This paper focuses on the inorganic chemical quality of natural groundwater. Possible health effects, the problems of setting meaningful action levels or maximum admissible concentrations (MAC-values) for drinking water, and potential shortcomings in current legislation are discussed. An approach to setting action levels based on transparency, toxicological risk assessment, completeness, and identifiable responsibility is suggested.