Water maximum contaminant level defined

Of the available data, one of the better assessments of overall rural drinking water quality is provided by a Cornell University study completed for EPA in 1982 (2). On a statistical basis, it represents 22 million rural households in the U.S. Basically, representative water samples were analyzed for about 30 separate biological, physical, chemical or radiological properties. The study reported the number of households where the analyses exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) as established by the EPA, Office of Drinking Water (ODW). The MCL is basically a standard which defines a safe level. 

Central to the type of assessment is a definition of an environmentally acceptable concentration of each contaminant. These acceptable levels were defined as Maximum Permissible Concentrations (MPC), and were based on the toxicological assessments of solvents in drinking water by George and Siegel. These MPC levels (Table 17.2.1) are not the same levels as the current Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) that were promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. 

Some advanced industrial nations have established strict guidelines for water supply facilities to protect their citizens from the adverse effects of toxicity and hazardous materials. Some countries have set up maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) beyond which the drinking water is considered unhealthy. The MCL established by the United States for lead is 0.05 mg/L and for cadmium is 0.01 mg/L. The United States has not defined an MCL for nickel. Specific detailed on adverse effects of lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel, and their compounds are well documented in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list. This list contains the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) for chemicals, and the list is updated every five years. 

Industries are constantly dumping heavy metal ions into lakes, rivers and reservoirs, thereby polluting them. Heavy metals are broadly defined as materials whose density is above 5 g/cm (Barakat 2011). Conmion heavy metals present in aqueous streams include chromium, mercury, lead and cadmium (Bailey et al. 1999). Table 2.1 (Kumiawan et al. 2006a) shown below describes the maximum contaminant level of heavy metals in surface water and their toxicides. 

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