The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines undergoes rolling revision to ensure it represents the latest scientific evidence on good quality drinking water. As sections of the Guidelines continue to be reviewed, this page will be updated to provide the latest information.
The 2011 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG) has been developed by NHMRC in collaboration with the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council (NRMMC). The ADWG is designed to provide an authoritative reference to the Australian community and the water supply industry on what defines safe, good quality water, how it can be achieved and how it can be assured. The guidelines have been developed after consideration of the best available scientific evidence and provide a framework for good management of drinking water supplies to ensure safety at point of use. They address both the health and aesthetic quality aspects of supplying good quality drinking water.
The recent update of the ADWG includes:
- additional material on pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors in Chapter 6;
- a rewrite of the monitoring chapters (9 and 10);
- additional micro-organism fact sheets; and
- an additional 130 pesticide fact sheets.
Please note that the 2011 version of the ADWG are only available electronically as a bookmarked PDF.
