A/HRC/45/10/Add.3 to high levels of bacterial contamination in their source water. This number grew to 19 per cent for households.25 51. The amended Law on Water outlines that the State Water Agency will be responsible for compiling water statistics, including water quality monitoring, and organizing water exploration and research. The Special Rapporteur looks forward to the Government’s continued efforts to find additional water sources, but cautions that such efforts must be matched by a strengthened and coordinated water quality monitoring process and those efforts should be prioritized in areas where existing water sources are of unacceptable quality. PROGRESS LIMITED: The Special Rapporteur looks forward the strengthening of the State Water Agency regarding water quality monitoring. He recommends that the State Water Agency review and strengthen the water quality monitoring process in conjunction with research efforts, to ensure a comprehensive effort to provide safe sources of water for citizens. 3. Recommendation on drinking water standard RECOMMENDATION 16: On drinking water quality: […] Take advantage of the current revision of national standards and adopt standards compatible with the most updated international guidelines and scientific knowledge in the field (A/HRC/39/55/Add.2, para. 82(i)(iii)). 52. In monitoring drinking water quality, it is critical that the most updated standard be used. The norm at the time of the country visit, from 2005, required an urgent update in line with the latest version of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. The Special Rapporteur encouraged the General Agency for Specialized Inspection to take advantage of the momentum of the discussion on the revision of the norm and to propose a standard compatible with the most updated international standards and scientific knowledge in this field (A/HRC/39/55/Add. 2, para. 73). 53. The new “Drinking water, Health necessity, quality, and safety evaluation MNS 0900:2018” was adopted in 2018 and updates its earlier version so that the standard is aligned with the fourth edition of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Guidelines for drinkingwater quality.26 Not all indicators are aligned, however, with Mongolian national standards allowing higher concentrations of Zinc and Aluminium than international standards.27 While non-toxic, high concentrations of both indicators ingested over long periods of time can have negative impacts on health and as organoleptic parameters can impact the water acceptability.28 These metals are often found in water that has been exposed to high levels of industrial waste. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government update the remaining indicators in order to develop a more comprehensive view of water quality in the country. 54. In 2019, the Central Water Monitoring Laboratory at the "Mongol-Water" State Department (conducting microbiological, chemical and heavy metal content analysis in water, and sewage water) updated and improved its operating policies and systems in accordance with the standard requirements of the “MNS ISO 17025: 2018 for Testing Capacity and Calibration Laboratory Capacity.”29 The Special Rapporteur commends the Government on updating its laboratory protocol for testing water quality, and looks forward to continuous improvement of the water quality testing process. 25 26 27 28 29 National Statistical Office of Mongolia, Social Indicator Sample Survey, Survey Findings Report, 2019, 281. Government of Mongolia, MNS 0900:2018, 2018. Tsogtbayer, O. Et al., Comparative physiochemican characterisic of drinking wáter from select endpoints and household storage containers in Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia, 2018, Cent Asian Med Sci. 4(4), 264-271. World Health Organisation, WHO/HSE/WSH/10.01/13, 2010. Mongolia-Water, “Laboratory Profile”, January 2019. 17