Detection Methods for Algae, Protoza and Helminths in Fresh and Drinking Water

Abstract

Water is a fundamental constituent of life and is essential to a wide range of economic activities. It is also a limited resource, as we are frequently reminded by the tragic effects of drought in certain parts of the world. Even in areas with high precipitation, and in major river basins, over-use and mismanagement of water have created severe constraints on availability. Such problems are widespread and will be made more acute by the accelerating demands on fresh water arising from trends in economic development. Despite the fact that water-resource management is essentially a local, river basin-based activity, there are a number of areas of action that are relevant to all or significant parts of the European Union, and as a result it is advisable to pool efforts for the purpose of understanding relevant phenomena (e.g., pollution, geochemical studies), developing technical solutions andor defining management procedures. One of the keys to successful cooperation aimed at studying hydrology, water monitoring, biological activity etc., is to establish and ensure good water quality measurements. Measurements of quality are essential to demonstrate the comparability of data obtained worldwide and they form the basis for appropriate decision-making related to management of water resources, monitoring issues, biological quality etc. In addition to the necessary quality control tools developed for various types of physical, chemical and biological measurements, there is a great need for education and training related to water quality measurement. This need has been recognized by the European Commision which has funded a series of training courses on this topic, covering aspects such as monitoring and measurement of lake recipients, measurement of heavy metals and organic compounds in drinking and surface water, use of biotic indexes, and methods for identification and quantitation of algae, protozoa and helminthes. This book series will ensure a wide coverage of issues related to water quality measurements, in particular the topics covered in the above-mentioned courses. In addition, other aspects related to methods of quality control (e.g., certified reference materials for the quality control of water analysis) and waste-water monitoring will also be considered