ABSTRACT
(Received; in final form March 15, 1985)
The evident physical continuity in the cycles of water in air, soil, lake, river, estuary and sea is difficult to describe accurately; there is also a chemical continuity that is impossibly complex in detail but has unifying principles that need to be explored. Amid current somewhat myopic concern about the effects of certain toxic metals in the environment specifically in relation to man it is appropriate to reflect on the wider issues of aquatic chemistry that affect the human environment. These issues embrace the aquatic chemistry of the countryside and the health of the population and reciprocally the impingement of human activities on the aquatic realm. If one can demonstrate a coherent core of chemical principles there may also be an implied need for more enlightened co-ordination in the study of aquatic chemistry, its applications and developments. At present, fundamental chemistry, water and wastewater technologies, environmental chemistry and epidemiology are discrete provinces of aquatic science. Insularity is even more serious in professional affiliations and consequently job qualifications; also among the central, local and industrial bodies who establish legislation and set and administer standards for water.
Benefits of greater collaboration and co-ordination would reach not only scientists, learned institutions, managers and the general public here but would also lead to much more effective understanding and practical help in other lands where water supply and water-related problems are enormously more acute.
