Investigation of Drinking Water Quality in Pastoral Areas in Qinghai Province

Objective To understand the water source type,the water supply way and drinking water quality in the pastoral areas in Qinghai Province. Methods One hundred and thirteen water samples in 11 counties were collected in the rainy season in 2006 and the water samples were tested according to the methods in Analytical Methods for Water and Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water Quality (2001),Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water Quality(2001). Results 1 741 231 population were investigated,the population consuming centralized water supply and dispersed water supply were 1 013 283(58.19%) and 727 948(41.8%) respectively. The population of drinking underground water occupied 76.4%,of which,drinking spring water occupied 83.2% and drinking well water occupied 4.6%. The population of drinking ground water occupied 23.6%,of which,drinking river water occupied 53.6%,drinking lake water occupied 0.2%. There were 638 centralized water supply plants,of which,only 11 water plants had complete water treatment. The dispersed water supply was consisted of manpower(84.7%),handpump(9.8%) and machine(5.5%). 51 of 113 water samples were up to standard,the overall eligible rate was 45.1%,of which the eligible rate of ground water was 25.9%,underground water was 51.2%,centralized water supply was 56.8%,dispersed water supply was 15.6%,showed the significant difference(P0.05).In the present investigation,14 water quality parameters were tested and the eligible rate of chromaticity,pH,arsenic,manganese,nitrate,nitrogen were 100%,turbidity,total hardness,iron,fluoride,chloride,sulfate,total bacteria count oxygen consumption capacity were above 95%,and total coliforms were 48.6%. Conclusion In the pastoral areas in Qinghai Province the water quality is bad,water sources are seriously contaminated by microorganisms,moreover,the water supply way is undeveloped. Water disinfection should be enhanced in the areas.