1. Water Quality Standards
Safe Drinking Water Act(Public Law ). Under this law, the primary responsibility of settling the water quality regulations was moved from the states to the EPA.

2. Maximum Contaminant Levels
is the enforceable standard and is based not only on health and risk assessment information, but also on costs and the availability of technology. The MCLGs are based solely on health and risk assessment information.

3. Overview of Water Treatment Processes
Unit processes used for the treatment of surface water and brackish waters summarizes the unit processes associated with significant removal cf particular water constituents.
Treatment of surface waters mostly requires the removal of particulate water and pathogens. Removing particles also assists in pathogen removal, because most pathogens either are particles or are associated with particles.

4. Coagulation and Flocculation
Most common method used to remove particles and a portion of dissolved organic matter is a combination of coagulation and flocculation followed by sedimentation and/or filtration.
Coagulation is a charge neutralization step that involves the conditioning of the suspended, colloidal, and dissolved matter by adding coagulants.
Flocculation involves the aggregation of destabilized particles and formation of larger particles known as floc.