DRAFT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS DEAS 12 
Second Edition  
2017-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DEAS 12: 2017 
© UNBS 201 7 
  
Potable water  — Specification  
 DRAFT FOR PUBLIC REVIEWDUS DEAS 12:2017 
ii                © UNBS  2017 - All rights reserved 
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2017 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to 
The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
P.O. Box 6329 
Kampala 
Uganda 
Tel: +256 417 333 250 /1/2 
Fax: +256 414 286 123 
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 DRAFT FOR PUBLIC REVIEWDUS DEAS 12:2017 
© UNBS  2017 - All rights reserved                iii National foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of the Laws of Uganda, as amended.  UNBS is mandated to co-
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of representatives of 
consumers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders. 
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Draft Uganda Standard, DUS DEAS 12: 2017, Potable water  — Specification , is identical with  and has 
been reproduced from a  Draft East African  Standard, DEAS 12: 2017, Potable water  — Specification , and is 
being proposed for adoption  as a Uganda Standard.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS/TC 2 , Food and agriculture.  
Subcommittee SC 16, Water and alcoholic beverages.  
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (US EAS 12: 2014), which has been technically 
revised. 
Wherever the words, “ East African Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
   DEAS 12: 2017 
ICS 13.060.20  
© EAC 2017                                                                                                                       Third  Edition 2017   
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Potable water — Specification  
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 12: 2014  
ii © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
participants in the EAC standards development process is permitt ed without prior permission from EAC, 
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for 
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for  the purpose of selling it should be addressed 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community  2017  — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O.Box 1096  
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8  
Fax: 255 2 7 2504481/2504255  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted.  EAS 12: 2014  
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
4 Requirements for potable water  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  4 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  4 
4.2 Specific quality requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  4 
4.2.1  Physical characteristics  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  4 
4.2.2  Chemical characteristics  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  5 
4.2.3  Chemical characteristics affecting the safety of potable water  ................................ .......................  6 
4.2.4  Organic con taminants ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  7 
4.2.5  Microbiological contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  8 
4.2.6  Radioactive characteristics  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  9 
5 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  109 
5.1 Sampling requirements ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  109 
5.2 Parameters required for minimum monitoring  ................................ ................................ .................  10 
Annex  A (informative)   ................................ ................................ ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 11 
Annex  B (normative)   ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 12 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  14 
 DEAS 12: 2014  
iv © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standar dization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. Draft East African Standards 
are circulated to stake holders through the National Standards Bodies in the Partner States. The comments 
received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accordance with the procedures 
of the Community.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to  keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
DEAS 12 was prepared by Technical Committee  EASC/TC 081, Drinkin g water . 
This third edition cancels and replaces the second  edition  (EAS  12:2014), which has been technically revised.  EAS 12: 2014  
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction  
The provision of safe and quality drinking -water is high priority for human health.  
The appearance, taste and odour of dri nking -water should be acceptable to the consumer. This will build the 
confidence of consumers, avoid complaints and, more importantly, prevent consumers from the use of water 
from sources that may be unsafe.  
Safety of water is affected by several factors i ncluding environmental, the nature of the source, the human 
activities undertaken on or around the sources and the water harvesting, handling and treatment that may be 
undertaken. Thus, water may be exposed to physical, chemical and microbiological contami nation that may 
make water unsafe for human consumption.  
A few chemical contaminants have been shown to cause adverse health effects in humans as a consequence 
of prolonged exposure through drinking -water however; some inorganic elements are also recogniz ed to be 
essential elements in human nutrition.  
Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites (e.g. protozoa and helminths) are 
the most common and widespread health risk associated with drinking -water. The greatest risk to publi c 
health from microbes in water is associated with consumption of drinking -water that is contaminated with 
human and animal excreta, although other sources and routes of exposure may also be significant.  
Consumers have no means of judging the safety of the ir drinking -water themselves. Water producers have a 
challenge of ensuring the quality and safety of water they provide. Regulators are required to establish health -
based targets that must be met by water operators.  
This standard sets minimum requirements for physical, chemicals and microbiological characteristics that 
affect safety and quality of drinking water. The use of this standard is expected to ensure provision of safe and 
quality drinking water for human consumption.  
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  EAS 12:201 4 
 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  1 
 Potable water — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements and methods of sampling and test for potable water  
intended for direct human consumption, domestic and industrial use  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensab le for the application of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
 [ISO 8245, Water quality -- Guidelines for the determi nation of total organic carbon (TOC) and dissolved 
organic carbon (DOC)]  
ASTM D 5907 -13, Standard test methods for filterable matter (total dissolved solids) and non -filterable matter 
(total suspended solids) in water  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry ━ Code of practice  
ISO 10359 , Water quali ty -- Determination of fluoride  
ISO 10523, Water quality -- Determination of pH  
ISO 11423 , Water quality -- Determination of benzene and some derivatives  
ISO 11732 , Water quality -- Determination of ammonium nitroge n -- Method by flow analysis (CFA and FIA) 
and spectrometric detection  
ISO 11885 , Water quality -- Determination of selected elements by inductively coupled plasma optical 
emission spectrometry (ICP -OES)  
ISO 11923, Water quality -- Determination of suspend ed solids by filtration through glass -fibre filters  
ISO 11969 , Water quality -- Determination of arsenic -- Atomic absorption spectrometric method (hydride 
technique)  
ISO 12020, Water quality -- Determination of aluminium ━ Atomic absorption spectrometric methods  
ISO 12846 , Water quality -- Determination of mercury -- Method using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) 
with and without enrichment  
ISO 13877 , Soil quality -- Determination of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons -- Method using high -
performance liquid chromatography  
ISO 14402 , Water quality -- Determination of phenol index by flow analysis (FIA and CFA)   
2 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 14911 , Water quality -- Determination of dissolved Li+, Na+, NH4+, K+, Mn2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+ and 
Ba2+ using ion chromatography -- Method for water and waste water  
ISO 15061 , Water quality -- Determination of dissolved bromate -- Method by liquid chromatography of ions  
ISO 15089 , Water quality -- Guidelines for selective immunoassays for the determination of plan t treatment 
and pesticide agents  
ISO 15681 , Water quality -- Determination of orthophosphate and total phosphorus contents  by flow analysis 
(FIA and CFA)  
ISO 16265 , Water quality -- Determination of the methylene blue active substances (MBAS) index -- Meth od 
using continuous flow analysis (CFA)  
ISO 16266, Water quality -- Detection and enumeration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ━ Method by membrane 
filtration  
ISO 21567, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs ━ Horizontal method for the detection of Shigella 
spp. 
ISO 22743, Water quality -- Determination of sulfates -- Method by continuous flow analysis (CFA)  
ISO 4832, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs ━ Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms ━ Colony -count technique  
ISO 5961 , Water quality -- Determination of cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 6059, Water quality -- Determination of the sum of calcium and magnesium -- EDTA titrimetric method  
ISO 6222, Water quality -- Enumeration of culturable microorganisms ━ Colony count by inoculation in 
nutrient agar culture media  
ISO 6332, Water quality ━ Determination of iron -spectrometric method us ing 1, 10 -phenanthroline  ISO 6333 , 
Water quality -- Determination of manganese -- Formaldoxime spectrometric method  
ISO 6461 , Water quality -- Detection ad enumeration of the spores of sulphite -reducing anaerobes (clostridia) 
━ Method by membrane filtratio n 
ISO 6703 , Water quali ty -- Determination of cyanide  
ISO 6777 , Water quality -- Determination of nitrite -- Molecular absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 6888 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs ━ Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagu lass-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species)  
ISO 7027 Water quality -- Determination of turbidity  
ISO 7393 , Water quality -- Determination of f ree chlorine and total chlorine  
ISO 7887, Water quality -- Determination of colour  
ISO 7888, Water quality -- Determination of electrical conductivity  
ISO 7890 , Water quality -- Determination of nitrate -- Part 3: Spectrometric method using sulfosalicylic acid  
ISO 7899 , Water quality -- Detection and enumer ation of intestinal anterccocci  
ISO 7980, Water quality -- Determination of calcium and magnesium -- Atomic absorption spectrometric 
method   
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  3 
 ISO 8165 , Water quality -- Determination  of selected monovalent phenols  
ISO 8245, Water quality -- Guidelines for the determination of total organic ca rbon (TOC) and dissolved 
organic carbon (DOC)  
ISO 8288, Water quality -- Determination of cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead -- Flame atomic 
absorption spectrometric methods  
ISO 9174 , Water quality -- Determination of chromium -- Atomic absorpt ion spectrometric methods  
ISO 9297, Water quality -- Determination of chloride ━ Silver nirate titration with chromate indicator (Mohr’s 
method)  
ISO 9308 , Water quality -- Detection and enumeration of Escherichia colli and coliform bacteria  
ISO 9390 , Wate r quality -- Determination of borate -- Spectrometric method using azomethine -H 
ISO 9696 , Water quality -- Measurement of gross alpha activity in non -saline water -- Thick source method  
ISO 9697 , Water quality -- Measurement of gross beta activity in non -saline water -- Thick source method  
ISO 9964 , Water quality -- Determination of sodium and potassium  
ISO 9965 , Water quality -- Determination of selenium -- Atomic absorption spectrometric method (hydride 
technique)  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes  of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply . 
3.1 
Potable water  
all water either in its original state or after treatment, intended for human drinking, cooking, food preparation,  
or other domestic purposes, food production, regardles s of its origin whether it is supplied from a distribution 
network, from a tanker or in bottles  
3.3 
treated water  
water that has undergone through processes such as flocculation, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and 
disinfection  
3.4 
untreated  potabl e water  
water that is from natural sources that is fit for human consumption without undergoing any form of treatment 
which will alter its original chemical c omposition and bacteriological purity  
3.5 
conventional treatment  
process involving deliberate co agulation, flocculation sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection to improve the 
safety and quality of the finis hed drinking water to consumers  
3.6 
water quality  
the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of water in respect to suitability fo r human consumption   
4 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 3.7 
safe water  
water that is free from physical, chemical and/or biological substances in concentrations which could cause 
illness or injury to consumers  
3.8 
surveillance  
an independent continuous, specific measurement, observation and  reporting for the purpose of water quality 
manage ment and operational activities  
3.9 
disinfection  
reduction by means of chemical agents and/or physical methods, of the number of micro -organism to a level 
that do es not compromise public health  
3.10 
potable  water distribution system  
public or private water systems providing consumers with tap water suitable for direct consumption  
3.11 
approved water supply  
source of water that has been inspected and approved by the competent authority for human consumption  
4 Requirements for potable water  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  Potable water shall be free from organisms and chemical substances that are hazardous and injurious 
to human health and shall comply with requirements in Table 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 . 
4.1.2  The l ocation, construction, operation and supervision of water supply source, its reservoirs and its 
distribution system shall be such that they exclude any possible pollution of the water in compliance with 
relevant national regulations . 
4.1.3  Potable water sh all be handled under hygienic conditions as stipulated in EAS 39 . 
4.1.4  Potable water shall not have objectionable taste or odour to the consumers and shall be free from 
any foreign matter . 
4.2 Specific quality requirements  
4.2.1  Physical requirements   
Potable water shall comply with  the physical characteristics in Table 1 .  
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  5 
 Table 1  — Physical requirements  for potable water  
 
4.2.2  Chemical requirements   
Table 2, i)  Total dissolved solid in treated potable water to be 900mg/l  
Table 2, Add parameter for potassium: Level of potassium to be 50mg/l for treated and natural potable water. 
To be 50mg/l as max for both.  
 
Potable water shall comply with  the chemical requirements  affecting quality indicated in Table 2 . 
Table 2 — Quality requirements for potable water  
Sl. No.  parameter  Treated potable 
water  
Limit (mg/L max.)  untreated  potable 
water  
Limit (mg/L max.)  Method  of 
test  
i) Total disso lved solids  1000 1500  ASTM D 
5907 
ii) Total hardness, as CaCO 3, 300 600 ISO 6059  
iii) Aluminium, (Al), 0.2 0.2 ISO 12020  
iv) Chloride, (Cl) 250 250 ISO 9297  
v) Total Iron ( Fe) 0.3 0.3 ISO 6332  
vi) Sodium, (Na) 200 200 ISO 9964 -1 
vii) Sulphate (SO 4) 400 400  ISO 22743  Sl. No.   
parameter  Treated potable water  
limits  untreated  potable 
water  
limits  test Method  
i) Colour  (TCUa max)   15 50 ISO 7887  
ii) Turbidity (NTU 
max)  5 25 ISO 7027  
iii) pH 6.5 – 8.5 5.5-9.5 ISO 10523  
vi) Conductivity 
(µS/cm)max  1500  2500 ISO 7888  
vii) Suspended matter  Not detectable  Not detectable  ISO 11923  
a) True colour units (TCU) mean  hazen units after filtration.   
6 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 viii) Zinc, (Zn) 5 5 ISO 8288  
ix) Magnesium, (Mg) 100 100 ISO 7980  
x) Calcium, as (Ca) 150 150 ISO 7980  
 Potassium  (K) 50 50 ISO 9964  
4.2.3  Chemical substances  affecting the safety of potable water  
4.2.3.1  Inorganic contaminants  
Potable water shall comply with  the limits of inorganic contaminants affecting safety indicated in Table 3. 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  7 
 Table 3 — Limits for inorganic substances  in natural and treated potable water  
Sl. No.  Substance  Treated potable water 
limit of concentration  
mg/L, ma x. Natural 
potable water  Method of t est  
 
i) Arsenic, ( As) 0.01 0.01 ISO 11969  
ii) Cadmium, (Cd) 0.003  0.003  ISO 5961  
iii) Lead, (Pb) 0.01 0.01 ISO 8288  
iv) Copper (Cu) 1.000  1.000  ISO 8288  
v) Mercury (total as Hg)  0.001  0.001  ISO 12846  
vi) Manganese,  (Mn) 0.1 0.1 ISO 6333  
vii) Selenium, (Se) 0.01 0.01 ISO 9965  
viii) Ammonia (NH3) 0.5 0.5 ISO 11732  
ix) Chromium Total, ( Cr) 0.05 0.05 ISO 9174  
x) Nickel, (Ni) 0.02 0.02 ISO 8288  
xi) Cyanide, (CN) 0.01 0.01 ISO 6703  
xii) Barium, (Ba) 0.7 0.7 ISO 149 11 
xiii) Nitrate (NO 3-) 45 45 ISO 7890  
xiv) Boron, (Boric acid ) 2.4 2.4 ISO 9390  
xv) Fluoride, (F) 1.5 1.5 ISO 10359  
xvi) Bromate, (BrO 3) 0.01 0.01 ISO 15061  
xvii) Nitrite  (NO-2-N) 0.9 0.9 ISO 6777  
xviii) Molybdenum  (Mo) 0.07 0.07 ISO 11885  
xix) Phos phates, ( PO 43-) 2.2 2.2 ISO 15681  
xx) free residual Chlorine  0.2-0.5 a Absent  ISO 7393  
 uranium  0.03 0.03 ASTM D 6239 -9 
a Under conditions of epidemic diseases, it may be necessary to increase the residual chlorine temporarily.  
 
4.2.4  Organic substanc es 
Potable water shall comply with  the limits of organic contaminants affecting safety indicated in Table 4 .  
8 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
  
Table 4 — Limits for organic substances  in treated and natural potable water  
 
Sl. No. Substance (Arrange alphabetical 
order)  Limit µg/L max.  Meth od of test  
i) Aromatics   
Benzene  10 ISO 11423  
 Toluene  700 
Xylene  500 
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon  0.7 ISO 13877  
ii) Chlorinated Alkanes and Alkenes   
Carbon tetrachloride  2 ISO 10301 - 
  1,2-Dichloroethane  30 
 1,1-Dichloroethylene  0.3 
 1,1-Dichloroethene  30 
 Tetrachloroethene  40 
iii) Phenolic substances   
 Phenols  2 ISO 8165  
 2,4,6 -Trichlorophenol  200 ISO 14402  
iv) Trihalomethanes   
 Chloroform  30 ASTM D 3871 -
85 
v) Pesticides  
 Aldrin/Dieldrin  0.03 ISO 15089  
 Chlordane (total)  0.3 
 2,4- Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid  30 
 DDT (total)  1 
 Heptachlor and Heptachlor Epoxide  0.03 
 Hexachlorobenzene  1 
 Lindane BHC  2 
 Methoxychlor  20 
vi) Surfactants  (reacting with methylene 
Blue)  200 ISO 16265  
viii) Organic matter  3 ISO 8245 - 
 
4.2.5  Microbiological contaminants  
Potable water shall comply with  the microbial limits  affecting safety as indicated in Table 5 .  
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  9 
 Table 5 — Microbiological li mits for potable water  
 
 
 
4.2.6  Radioactive characteristics  
Potable water shall comply with  the limits for radioactive materials stipulated in Table 6.  
 
Table 6 — Limits for radioactive materials in treated and untreated  potable w ater  
Sl. No.  Radioactive 
material  Limits in  
Bq/L  Method of test  
i) Gross alpha activity  0.5 ISO 9696  
ii) Gross beta activity  1 ISO 9697  Sl. No.  Type of micro -organism  Potable water  Method of 
test  
i) Total viable counts at 22 ºC , 
in mL, max. a) 100 
  
 
ISO 6222  Total viable counts at  
37 ºC, in mL, max. a) 50 
ii) Total Coliforms  in 100 mL  Absent  ISO 9308 -1 
iii) E. coli  in 100 mL  Absent   
ISO 9308 -1 
iv) Staphylococcus aureus in 
100 mL  Absent   
ISO 6888 -1 
v) Sulphite reducing anaerobes 
in100 mL  Absent   
ISO 6461 -2 
vi) Pseudomonas aeruginos a 
fluorescence in 100 mL  Absent  ISO 16266  
vii) Streptococcus faecalis  in 
100mL  Absent  ISO 7899 -2 
viii) Shigella  in 100 mL  absent  ISO 21567  
ix) Salmonella  in 100 mL  Absent  ISO 6785  
x) Giardia  Absent  ISO 15553  
xi) cryptosporidium  Absent  
a This parameter is for monitoring the system at source. Total time before analysis should be not 
more than 6 h at 4 ºC. Determination of total viable counts shall start within 12 h  after collection of 
the potable water sample.  
  
10 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 5 Sampling  
5.1 Sampling requirements  
Sampling may be done as guided in Table 7 below .  
Table 7 — Minimum frequen cy of sampling of water for surveillance  
Population served (P)  Frequency * (minimum) of sampling  
P >100 000  10 samples every month per 100 000 of population served  
25 001 – 100 000  10 samples every month  
10 001 – 25 000  3 samples every month  
2 500 – 10 000 2 samples every month  
P <2 500  1 sample every month  
* During the rainy season or epidemics and emergences, sampling should be carried out more frequently .  
 
5.2 Parameters required for minimum monitoring  
It is recognized that, in many instances, th e cost of performing a full analysis against Table 1, Table 2, Table 
3, Table 4, Table 5, Table 6 and Table 7 can be prohibitive.  
Analysis of the parameters in Table 8 may be deemed acceptable for the purpose of indicating on going levels 
of operational ef ficiency in a water treatment plant. However, a relevant authority may require additional tests.  
Table 8 — Parameters required for minimum monitoring   
Sl. No.  property  Test method  
a)  Conductivity  or 
dissolved solids  Table 1  
 
b)  Colour  
c)  Turbidity;  
d)  Taste  
e)  Odour  
f)  pH value  
g)  Fluoride as F - 
h)  Nitrate  
i)  Aluminium  
j)  Iron(total)  
k)  Nitrite  Table 2  
l)  Ammonia   
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  11 
 m)  Free Residual chlorinea) 
n)  Faecal coliform bacteria 
or E. coli;  Table 5  
o)  Shigella spp  
p)  Salmonella spp  
a)  only applicable to treated potable  water  
 
 
 
 
 
If abnormal results are encountered in any of these analyses, sampling frequency shall be increased and/or 
additional analyses carried out.  
NOTE  A consumer complaints register for the aesthetic qualities of the water should be maintained.  
  
12 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 Annex Ainformative ) 
 
Guidelines for water safety plans  
B.1 Drinking water systems operators sh ould develop,  implement and maintain a water safety plan taking 
into consideration the potential risks to the safet y of the water from the supply catchment area to the 
consumer.  
B.2 A water safety plan sh ould consist of three key components:  
a) system assessment to determine whether the drinking -water supply chain (up to the point of 
consumption) as a whole can deliv er water of a quality that meets health -based targets;  
b) identifying control measures in a drinking water system that will collectively control identified risks and 
ensure that the health -based targets are met; and  
c) management plans describing actions  to be taken during normal operation or incident conditions and 
documenting the system assessment (including upgrade and improvement), monitoring and 
communication plans and supporting programmes.  
B.3 A water safety plan sh ould include:   
a) measures to prote ct the source of drinkin g water from risks of pollution;  
b) measures to ensure all installations intended for the production of drinking water exclude any possibility of 
contamination. For this purpose and in particular:  
 the installation for collection, the pipes and the reservoirs sh ould be made from materials suited 
to the water and in such a way as to prevent the introduction of foreign substances in water;  
 the equipment and its use for production sh ould meet hygienic requirements;  
c) measures to ensure an appropriate treatment such as pre -treatment processes, coagulation, flocculation, 
sedimentation, filtration and disinfection are undertaken to assure the safety of water for the consumers;  
d) appropriate operational monitoring system including monitoring par ameters that can be measured and for 
which limits have been set to define the operational effectiveness of the activity; frequency of monitoring 
and procedures for corrective action that can be implemented in response to deviation from limits. If, 
during p roduction it is found that the water is polluted, the producer shall stop all operations until the 
cause of pollution is eliminated; and  
e) a verification plan to ensure that individual compon ents of a drinking -water system, and system as a 
whole is operating safely.  
B.4 Surveillance  
B.4.1 General surveillance requirements  
Drinking -water suppliers sh ould ensure, at all times, the quality and safety of the water that they produce. 
Public heal th surveillance (that is, surveillance of health status and trends) contributes to verifying drinking -
water safety.  
Adequate infrastructure, proper monitoring and effective planning and management; and a system of 
independent surveillance are basic and es sential requirements to ensure the safety of drinking -water.   
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  13 
 Surveillance sh ould cover the total supply network from the source of untreated water to the consumer 
delivery points.  
A sampling programme that takes into consideration appropriate internation al recommendations sh ould be 
established and implemented. The sampling sh ould be regular and its frequency sh ould mainly depend on the 
following factors  
a) quality of water harnessed including effects on the water from climatic, human and industrial activiti es;  
b) type of treatment for drinking worthiness;  
c) volume of water processed;  
d) risks of contamination;  
e) background of public water supply network;  
f) population served; and  
g) capabilities of the analytical facility (both in terms of capacity and in terms of ana lytical performance)   
14 © EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1] Guidelines for drinking water quality, fourth edition 2011, WHO.  
[2] Code of hygienic practice for bottled/packaged drinking waters (other than natural mineral waters)  
CAC/RCP 48 -2001  EAS 12: 2014    
 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserv ed