[Important problems of high quality drinking water supply, and the ways of their solution].

The article covers the results of experimental and natural studies concerning important directions in the field of drinking water supply, including such aspects as: research into and classification of the barrier role of conventional and prospective technologies of water preparation in terms of chemical and biological pollution; revision of the standards of drinking water quality control in accordance with international documents; the main aspects of revision of the general conception of high quality water supply, within which hygienic requirements concerning the quality of prepackaged waters and the ranking of different techniques of water preparation used in water purification units, have been developed for the first time. The authors present the results of experimental studies on the patterns of disinfection, purification, and conditioning of drinking water quality using energetic- and-information technologies of water preparation.

[The informative value of determination of the cytological status of nasal and oral mucosae in the assessment of the quality of water].

The nasal and oral mucosal cytological status was studied in children of a control kindergarten who used boiled Moscow tap water and in those of two experimental kindergartens who had drunk bottled "Troitsa" water supplemented by a fortified "Zolotoy Shar" drink for 6 months. Impression smears were taken from their nasal and oral mucosae twice: before and 6 months after water use. The data presented indicate that the use of the water of improved quality in its trace and vitamin contents may be used in preventive and rehabilitative medicine as it leads to improvement of the nasal and oral cytological status, by normalizing and/or positively affecting the latter.

[Impact of iodination on the total mutagenic activity of chlorinated tap water].

The impact of iodination on the total mutagenic activity (TMA) of chlorinated tap water was studied. Iodination was made, by using iodine in doses of 0.5 to 4.

["Copy-pair" model for calculating the effect of the water factor on the health status of residents in an epidemiological study].

The paper presents the results of testing 4 main models of copy-pair examinations in some cities and towns of the country, which have been recommended for singling out the influence of a water factor on human health in epidemiological surveys. A locality with varying water supply (drinking water quality) in its different parts is shown to be methodologically the best model.

[Caries and fluorine: role of water factor, problems and solutions].

The epidemiological studies of the severity and spread of caries of deciduous and permanent teeth in Moscow schoolchildren (n = > 20,000) aged 7-17 years in relation to the content of fluoride in the drinking water, to the use of fluorine-containing tablets and varnishes have provided evidence for the high efficiency of drinking water fluorination for the primary prevention of caries as compared with other preventive alternatives. Based on sanitary studies, two main lines are now under way in solving the problem connected with low dietary fluoride intake: the introduction of routine water-purifying fluorine generators (based on a new technology of fluorination of limited water volumes for drinking and cooking) and the setting-up of plants manufacturing bottled drinking waters containing the optimum or higher fluorine levels for provision of different population groups, primarily children and pregnant women in particular.