A/HRC/42/47/Add.8 Water and Sanitation Tariff-Setting 15. Paragraph 66 15. Additionally, in order to guarantee that those financially more vulnerable are not denied access to water and sanitation services, the Special Rapporteur recommends the Government to implement mechanisms of social tariffs and different types of crosssubsidization, including from non-residential consumers to residential users (A/HRC/30/39). The current procedure of providing 20 cubic meters water for free that is implemented in some states is a way to address affordability, but may not be fair when universally applied. The application does not consider the number of persons living in the house and the household income and therefore, ironically, it is the rich households with fewer number of persons living in a house that consumes low volumes of water that will ultimately benefit from this policy the procedure, sadly at the cost of large, poor families. The target of these mechanisms should be the bottom 40 per cent (B40) group of the income classification that has median household income of RM3,000 and other marginalised groups. To identify those groups in need of subsidy, the Special Rapporteur reiterates that data should be collected and disaggregated. Water Quality 16. Paragraph 70 16. The Ministry of Health performs the role of regulator of drinking water quality, as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), for both Peninsular and East Malaysia. Thorough its Engineering Services Division, the Ministry collects and analyses 189,000 samples per year across the country. This Drinking Water Quality Surveillance (DWQS) Program covers most of the piped water connections, be it in the urban and rural areas. The water quality of alternative water supplies in rural areas which include remote and isolated areas, such as plantations or resorts is also monitored under the DWQS program although not as extensive as those in urban areas. However, this role is limited to the piped connections mostly in urban areas, resulting in a gap in rural areas including the so-called alternative supplies as well as water supply in the most remote areas. During the interactions with the actors in this field, the Special Rapporteur noted that coordination of drinking water surveillance, undertaken by the Ministry of Health, and drinking water control, by water providers, should be strengthened. The Ministry needs to have a more active role in auditing and interpreting the results of the monitoring by providers so that a larger number of parameters can be tested and to ensure that violations of the standards are properly fixed. Moreover, considering impacts on water quality of the sources, especially by development projects, a targeted monitoring, e.g. of pesticides, is urgent. Comments from the Government of Malaysia:  To include ‘as suggested by World Health Organisation’.  To include information regarding Water Quality Surveillance (DWQS) Program. 17. Paragraph 71 17. According to information received, the National Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality is based on the second edition of the WHO guidelines. However, revision to the Guidelines is being carried out based on the fourth edition of the WHO Guidelines and expected be adopted later this year. There is an urgent need to update the current standard on the basis of the fourth edition of those international guidelines, in 8