It is of greatest importance that chemicals used to treat water do not cause _____ .

• A. Side effects that endanger public health
• B. Tastes and odors
• C. Color
• D. Corrosion

Answer: (A)

The key idea is safety for people drinking the water. Chemicals used to treat water must not introduce health risks; their primary purpose is to keep the water safe, not just pleasant-smelling or looking. If a treatment chemical or its byproducts could cause health problems, that undermines public health and defeats the purpose of treatment. So the greatest priority is avoiding side effects that endanger health.

Tastes and odors, color, and corrosion are important quality and infrastructure considerations, but they don’t carry the same urgent safety implication. They affect consumer acceptance and equipment integrity, yet the fundamental obligation is to prevent any health risk from the treatment chemicals.