According to the German Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV), drinking water is water that is intended for human consumption. This means that it can be used for drinking, cooking, preparing food or for personal hygiene. Drinking water must meet certain quality requirements set out in the Drinking Water Ordinance. These requirements relate to the microbiological, chemical, and physical properties of the water, as well as protection against contamination and impairment.

The analysis of all possible pathogenic germs would be too extensive in the case of a drinking water test. For this reason, only selected indicator germs are analyzed in a drinking water test. The standard analysis includes the following parameters: