Study on improving China's drinking water quality management

With the progress and development of science and technology, the development of drinking water quality standards in China has been evolving, from 1986 Standards for Drinking Water Quality (GB5749-85) to current standard (GB5749-2006), drinking water management has undergone continuous revision and improvement. However, as water pollution situation worsens, the types of potential pollutants may appear in drinking water continue to increase, but the revision frequency of drinking water quality standards in China is rather low, resulting in the lack of control over emerging new pollutants during the implementation of water standards. On top of that, the average testing capability of water quality testing institutions in China is also rather low which results in wasted resources. In addition to technical issues, the quality standards lack related laws and regulations. Lack of legal enforcement makes fully implementing water quality standards difficult. This paper aims at the current status of drinking water quality standards in China, and compares respective standards or guidelines of United States, European Union, World Health Organization, Japan and Russia. The main characteristics and implementation process of various drinking water quality standards have been compared and analyzed, reflecting the differences between China's and other countries' drinking water quality standards and China's backwardness and deficiency in terms of effectively enforcing water quality standards. Then, several methods are proposed to solve the Problems and inadequacies such as increasing the revision frequency of drinking water standards, classifying one standard into different levels suited for different natural, social conditions, establish standard parameters and values based on local water characteristics rather than heavily referencing other standards. In legal aspect, this paper recommends the establishment of a legal framework to safeguard the effective implementation of standards for drinking water quality, eliminating problems such as incomprehensive, non-systematic laws failing to protect drinking water quality in China. Recommendations were made throughout the water supply system including water source, water supply facilities, water quality monitoring facilities, water distribution systems. It is also recommended to motivate public participation with openly shared data and reward penalty policies. Lastly, drinking water safety education integrated into public education is also helpful for raising awareness among younger generations. Through the research of this paper, author hopes to provide a roadmap to improve the development and implementation of China's drinking water quality standards, to ensure safe drinking water supply for the public.