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7 A reference value may be sufficient for risk assessment in general, but international studies have shown that the average drinking water consumption for adults range between 0.075 L/day and 3 L/day for adults, 8, 9, 10, 11 showing both national and regional differences.
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As examples of reference values for drinking water consumption, World Health Organization (WHO) has adopted 2 L as a standard quantity of daily consumption of drinking water for adults, 6 while European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently suggested using 2 L for females and 2.5 L for males for total daily water consumption from beverages and food. These models demand accurate consumption data to make realistic risk assessments. quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) 5. To evaluate the need for risk reducing measures to sustain good quality tap water, models for risk assessment have been developed, e.g. Large drinking water related outbreaks 1, 2, 3 and findings of harmful substances 4 in drinking water during recent years have increased the awareness of the vulnerability of the drinking water supply and that consumers may be at risk. In the industrialized world, drinking water is generally associated with low health concern. As 46% of the tap water consumed is heated, we suggest using 1.85 l/day for total tap water consumption. Based on the results from the SMS study, we suggest using 1 l/day for the average adult population and 2.5 l/day for high consumers for risk assessment of cold tap water consumption. About 70% of the cold tap water is consumed at home. For statistical distributions, the mean daily consumption of cold tap water for the population was best fitted to a gamma distribution. Data collected via the SMS questionnaire shows an average consumption of cold tap water of 4.9 glasses/24 h (one glass=200 ml), while the average estimates of cold tap water collected by the traditional methods range from 4.5 to 7.0 glasses/24 h. SMS showed to be a promising tool for collecting self-reported consumption, as most citizens could participate and the method showed high response rate. Monthly SMS questionnaires were sent out during one year to obtain longitudinal information as well. To estimate the amount and source of drinking water consumed among adults in Sweden, we collected self-reported estimates using both traditional methods (telephone interviews, web questionnaire) and a novel method (Short Message Service, SMS questionnaires) in a population from an average sized Swedish municipality. For exposure assessment of drinking water hazards, country-specific drinking water consumption data including sources of the consumed water may therefore be warranted. Studies have shown that the average drinking water consumption ranges between 0.075 and 3 L/day for adults with both national and regional differences.