Definitions
Water quality is defined by a number of properties that includes the physical, chemical, biological, and “taste-related” properties of water (United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD 1997)). When the water is natural water in rivers, lakes, and groundwater, then it is called ambient water quality (UN Water 2018c) but in the water industry that same water is generally called raw water quality as it has not been treated (United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPAa)). Once the treatment process is complete, then it is called final or finished water quality (USEPAa).
Water quality can be described using criteria that refer to the intended use of the water including for drinking, recreation, agriculture, and industry (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 1997; Bartram and Ballance 1996).
Indicators of water quality are...
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Dickens, C., O’Brien, G. (2022). Water Quality: Standards and Indicators. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Clean Water and Sanitation. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95846-0_111
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