Ensuring the quality of drinking water is a primary goal for public health around the world. Most countries have enacted regulations and monitoring programs to ensure that the supply of drinking water is free from potentially harmful chemicals. The regulations typically include maximum allowable concentrations for a range of inorganic components. Trace metals are routinely monitored in both the treated water supplied to households, and the source water used for drinking water abstraction (from rivers, reservoirs, lakes, underground aquifers; and, in some regions, seawater used for desalination).