ABSTRACT
Drinking water practitioners are concerned with water supply and water purification through a treatment process. In treating water, the primary concern, of course, is producing potable water that is safe to drink (free of
pathogens) and has no accompanying offensive characteristics, such as a foul taste or odor. To accomplish this, the drinking water practitioner must possess a wide range of knowledge. In short, to correctly examine raw water for pathogenic microorganisms and to determine the type of treatment necessary to ensure that the quality of the end product-potable water-meets regulatory standards, in addition to accomplishing all the other myriad requirements involved in drinking water processing, the drinking water practitioner must be a combination specialist/generalist.
