Drinking water microbiology will have a tremendous impact on defining a safe drinking water in the future. There will be breakthroughs in realtime testing of process waters for pathogen surrogates with results made available within 1 hour for application to treatment adjustments if needed. Continuous monitoring by automated microbiology of filter effluents and effluent leaving the contact basin will provide a constant check for any pathogenic penetration of barriers. Using distribution system models, water quality changes in heterotrophic bacteria will be plotted throughout the network to signal times to flush and to define zones of HPC densities around hospitals and rest homes. The quest for better characterization of drinking water quality will not come into reality without expanding the laboratory's professional resources and dedicated instrumentation to define a new level of water quality conditions. The objective will require a reevaluation of financial support and staffing requirements on a par with the expanding chemistry laboratory.