ABSTRACT
Point-of-use (POU)/point-of-entry (POE) has been traditionally used for non-health related water impurities such as taste, odor, color, turbidity, iron, hardness, etc. in the home as well as for industrial and commercial applications. This chapter outlines the ways in which POU/POE devices are applied in the home for State and Federal hazardous waste actions, military applications, and commercial and industrial uses. Two issues develop with homeowner use of POU/POE devices. The first deals with homeowners already on community or public water supply. The second issue deals with the discovery of harmful substances in drinking wells. For individual rural homeowners without the benefit of a central treatment system, POU/POE may be the only viable solution for producing potable water. Commercial and light industrial activities have used and are anticipated to increase their use of POU/POE devices to produce water for a variety of different applications including medical applications and farm applications.
