Current situation analysis on China rural drinking water quality.

Objective To get a better understanding of the current situation of rural drinking water quality in China and to provide scientific evidence for improving rural drinking water supply.Methods The survey was conducted in 2006 in 31 provinces,and the survey population involved all counties where the rural areas were concerned.The survey counties were identified in line with the requirements of the nationwide unified plan,and the water quality survey points were randomly selected according to stratification in proportion,the numbers of different water samples were determined according to the population of users with different types of water supply modes.Taking each province as a whole,the survey points must cover water sources of all types and all water supply modes;no less than 10 survey points were requested in each county.Water samples were analyzed according to the Standard Determination Methods for Drinking Water Quality(GB 5750-1985).Assessment was made in line with the water quality classification requirements in the Guidelines on the Implementation of Sanitary Standards for Drinking Water Quality in Rural China(1991).Results The water source of rural drinking water was mainly underground water,with 74.87% of rural population using underground water source,and 25.13% using surface water;55.10% of rural population used water from centralized water supply systems.The total eligible rate of water quality was about 55.64%,as for surface and underground water,the rates were about 59.56% and 54.06% respectively,as for central water and non-central water,the rates were about 59.17% and 52.27%.The total count of bacteria and total coliform were the main non-eligible indexes.Only 5.11% of investigated houses conducted water treatment,but 85.23% of households drank the boiled water.Conclusion The drinking water quality in the rural areas in China is still at lower level,the improvement is desiderated.