IN countries like India where universal access to safe drinking-water at an acceptable level of service has not been achieved, the country's national drinking water policy should refer to "expressed targets for increasing access', according to the World Health Organisation's Guidelines for Drinking Water Safety. Such policy statements should be consistent with achievement of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Declaration. It should also take into account the levels of acceptability outlined in General Comment 15 on the Right to Water of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and associated documents. In developing national drinking water standards based on WHO Guidelines, a variety of environmental, social, cultural, economic, dietary and other conditions affecting potential exposure should be considered. The Drinking-water supply policy should normally outline the requirements for protection of water sources and resources, the need for appropriate treatment, preventive maintenance within distribution systems, and requirements to maintain water safety after collection from communal sources. Setting national standards should ideally involve consideration of the quality of the water, the quality of service, target setting and the quality of infrastructure and systems, as well as enforcement action. For example, national standards should define protection zones around water sources, minimum standard specifications for operating systems, hygiene practice standards in construction and minimum standards for health protection. Some countries include these details in a