Applications of natural plant extracts in soft drinks - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 348

• Microorganisms (such as faecal coliforms, Pseudomonas, Cryptosporidium,
Giardia )
• Dissolved toxic elements (arsenic, lead, mercury, etc.)
• Dissolved organic material
• Radon and radioactive materials
• Hydrocarbons (oil, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.)
• Pharmaceutical residues

• Pesticides and herbicides.

A full assessment of all these parameters is a time-consuming and expensive
exercise and is usually only carried out on an initial assessment and then rarely
more frequently than annually. If issues arise, specifi c examinations may be
carried out.
EU and UK standards for public water supplies defi ne a range of microbiological
and physico-chemical parameters (see Table 15.5 for a summary). In addition to
setting limits for the various parameters, regulations in the UK also identify
specifi c parameters for check monitoring in particular circumstances (e.g. levels
of aluminium should be checked when it has been used as fl occulant or when the
water originates from or is infl uenced by surface waters). A further range of
standards exist in the UK for natural mineral water, spring water and bottled
drinking water and these are summarised in Table 15.6.

Table 15.5 Summary of prescribed concentrations and values for drinking water

Parameters Concentration or

value (maximum)

Units of
measurement

Point of compliance

Microbiological
Directive requirements
Enterococci

0 Number per 100 ml Consumers' taps

Escherichia coli 0 Number per 100 ml Consumers' taps

National requirements
Coliform bacteria

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿

0 Number per 100 ml Service reservoirs

and treatment works

Escherichia coli 0 Number per 100 ml Service reservoirs

and treatment works

Chemical
Directive requirements
Acrylamide 0.1 μg/l Consumers' taps

Antimony 5.0 μgSb/l Consumers' taps

Arsenic 10 μgAs/l Consumers' taps

Benzene 1.0 μg/l Consumers' taps

Benzo(a)pyrene 0.01 μg/l Consumers' taps

Boron 1.0 mg/l Consumers' taps

Bromate 10 μg BrO 3 /l Consumers' taps

Cadmium 5.0 μg Cd/l Consumers' taps

Chromium 50 μg Cr/l Consumers' taps

Copper(ii) 2.0 mg Cu/l Consumers' taps

Continued