Drinking water Technology, Eawag, developed a method by which hazard maps could be produced for geogenic toxic substances in groundwater. This provides an efficient way of determining which wells should be tested. Parameters for drinking water quality typically fall within three categories: Physical and chemical parameters include heavy metals, trace organic compounds, total suspended solids (TSS), and turbidity. Microbiological parameters include Coliform bacteria, "E. coli", and specific pathogenic species of bacteria (such as cholera-causing "Vibrio cholerae"), viruses, and protozoan parasites. Chemical parameters tend to pose more of a chronic health risk through buildup of heavy metals although some components like nitrates/nitrites and
Water-use efficiency Water-use efficiency Water-use efficiency (WUE) refers to the ratio of water used in plant metabolism to water lost by the plant through transpiration. Two types of water-use efficiency are referred to most frequently: Increases in water-use efficiency are commonly cited as a response mechanism of plants to moderate to severe soil water deficits, and has been the focus of many programs that seek to increase crop tolerance of drought. However, there is some question as to the benefit of increased water-use efficiency of plants in agricultural systems, as the processes of increased yield production and decreased transpirational water loss (that