This topic is designed to provide an understanding of how drinking water can impact on human health and how to manage and effectively communicate risks associated with human exposure to hazards potentially associated with drinking water supplies. The topic will outline the basic disciplines required to understand and assess health risks such as epidemiology, toxicology and microbiology. It will then use these disciplines to assess health risks from a range of exposure to both chemical and microbiological hazards in potable water supplies using the 'risk' framework. The topic will cover all aspects of drinking water's ability to impact on public health from the perceptions and expectations of the public regarding a 'safe' water supply through the regulatory aspects of developing guidelines based on public health to assessing and managing risk associated with chemical, radiological and biological (including microbiological) hazards in water from catchment through treatment, reticulation and supply to customer tap.
This topic aims to provide students with an understanding of how drinking water can impact on human health using a risk based framework and how to manage and effectively communicate risks associated with human exposure to drinking water.
Timetable details for 2021 are no longer published.