WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality
The international reference standard for drinking-water safety and risk management.
SDG 6 Clean Water & SanitationWhat is it?
The WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (GDWQ) are the authoritative international reference for setting national standards, defining safe limits and a Water Safety Plan risk-management framework.
Why does it matter?
They give governments and programs an evidence-based, harmonised basis for regulating water quality rather than reinventing thresholds locally.
How does it work?
The guidelines pair health-based target values for microbial, chemical, and radiological hazards with a preventive, catchment-to-consumer risk-assessment approach (Water Safety Plans).
Who benefits?
Regulators, utilities, and program designers who need a defensible standard, and ultimately the public whose water is judged against it.
Who may be disadvantaged?
Communities without the monitoring capacity to apply the guidelines may be judged non-compliant without the resources to comply; standards can outpace local means.
What evidence exists?
The guideline values are derived from toxicological and epidemiological review and are periodically updated as evidence evolves.
What tradeoffs exist?
Comprehensive and rigorous, but complex to implement fully; strict numeric limits can distract from the more protective systems-thinking of Water Safety Plans.
Common misconceptions
The GDWQ is guidance for setting standards, not a single global legal limit; countries adapt values to local context.
What you can do next
See how household methods (filtration, chlorination) implement these targets, and how SDG 6 frames the global goal.