Over time, there has been increasing recognition of the importance of drinking water quality and its impact on public health. This has led to increasing protection and management of water quality.
The understanding of the links between water quality and health continues to grow and highlight new potential health crises: from the chronic impacts of infectious diseases on child development through stunting to new evidence on the harms from known contaminants, such as manganese with growing evidence of neurotoxicity in children. In addition, there are many emerging water quality issues—such as microplastics, perfluorinated compounds, and antimicrobial resistance.