A report on the EUROANALYSIS 15 conference, held in Innsbruck, Austria, in September 2009, is presented, and the personal views of Paul Worsfold on water quality in the developing world, are provided. EUROANALYSIS 15, organized by Wolfgang Buchberger and Wolfgang Lindner, discussed 'The impact of analytical chemistry on the quality of life'. Contributions were made from many areas of analytical chemistry and EUROANALYSIS maintained its position as one of the most important international broad spectrum analytical science conferences. The next EUROANALYSIS 16 conference will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2011. Worsfold says that the key processes that impact on water quality include eutrophication, diffuse and point-source discharges/drainage from mining activities, localized discharges, saline intrusion into groundwater in coastal areas, and erosion and sedimentation.