CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The availability of tap has major public health benefits, since it typically vastly reduces the risk to the public contacting water borne diseases. Providing tap water to large urban or suburban populations requires a complex and carefully designed system of collection storage treatment and distribution and is commonly the responsibility of a government agency, often the same agency responsible for the removal and treatment of water (Chartres, 2010).
Specific chemical compounds are often added to tap water during the treatment process to adjust the pH or remove contaminants, as well as chlorine to kill biological toxins. Local geological conditions affecting ground water are determining factors for the presence of various metal ions often rendering the water soft or hard.
Tap water remains susceptible to biological or chemical contamination in the event of contamination deemed dangerous to public health; government officials typically issue an advisory regarding water consumption. In the case of biological contamination, residents are usually advised to boil their water before consumption or to use bottled water as an alternative. In the case of chemical contamination, residents may be