Who guidelines on safe water released

The guidelines will help countries like Bangladesh in reducing to a great extent outbreaks of water-borne diseases caused by chemical and bacteriological contamination.

Sources said Bangladesh government will also update its national guideline on safe drinking water in line with the latest Who guidelines.

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"The new guidelines will be launched here formally at a meeting of all the stakeholders shortly. The department of public health and engineering (DPHE), in association with Who and arsenic policy support unit (Apsu) of DFID, will jointly organise the meeting," said Md Taufiqul Arif, senior project officer of Who in Dhaka.

"The revised guidelines will allow public health management to focus on prevention of microbial and chemical contamination of water supplies," said Dr Kerstin Leitner, Who assistant director-general for Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments.

"This third edition of Who guidelines is the most significant water-related public health development since the introduction of chlorine," says Dr Michael Rouse, president of the International Water Association (IWA).

The new edition has reviewed and revised the recommended values for chemical limits in drinking water in line with the latest scientific evidence.

The updated guidelines represent a paradigm shift in advice on how to manage the provision of safe drinking water both in large urban settings and in rural areas of the developed and the developing world, sources added.