[The new German decree on drinking water].

The Second European Guideline of Drinking Water was published on 3rd November 1998. Notwithstanding good German drinking water standards, as a member country of the European Union, Germany had to transfer this guideline to German law. Therefore the new German decree on drinking water (Trinkwasserverordnung - TrinkwV 2001) was published on 21st May 2001. Basing on recent toxicological findings some of the borderline values have been lowered compared to the previous version. There are problems to realize the new low borderline value for lead; therefore full realization will be ordered not till 2013. The main responsibilities as to the hygienic inspection of water-supplying installations are assigned to the Public Health Office. The owners of water supply installations are notifiable to the Public Health Office. The District with the District Community Physician is the responsible administrative authority to take measures for good and healthy drinking water quality.