The comprehensive critical review of works on drinking water biotests, which is widely applied worldwide as the method to analyse the drinking water quality and risk evaluation for human health. The need to apply complex approach for biotests has been justified. Analysis result of 53 marks of bottled water by biotest methods has been introduced for the first time ever. The use of chemical methods for the assessment of natural water quality does not always yield necessary results, due to the lack of information on the biological components of the chemicals analyzed. Biotesting makes it possible to determine water toxicity, and it does not contain any harmful substances according to the chemical analysis. However, according to the biological criteria, the location of the toxicant agent does not indicate water toxicity. Moreover, the chemical examination does not take into consideration the interaction of contaminants and their transformation both in nature and in organisms. Biotesting methods assess objectively and comprehensively the influence of substances on an organism and its vital processes. In many cases biomonitoring is technically simpler and considerably cheaper than other alternatives. It does not require special instrumentation; it is limited in time; and it is more precise and sensitive in comparison with the chemical analysis. On the whole, biotesting will lead both to a reduction in the number of necessary procedures and to the significant simplification of the examination process.
KeywordsMethods of biological assessment to determine the quality of aqueous environments may be divided into the methods of bioindication and biotesting. Biotesting V. V. Goncharuk, Drinking Water,