Objectives To acquire the drinking water consumption of urban residents in Lanzhou for health risk assessment.

Methods Residents of 18 years old or older were selected randomly by a multiple-stage stratified cluster random sampling method from four areas in Lanzhou and assessed from July 2017 to August. 2017. The information on drinking water exposure parameters of residents were investigated by using quantified measures combined with questionnaire survey. Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test were used for stratified analysis of drinking water consumption.

Results The median value of total drinking water consumption, direct drinking water consumption and indirect drinking water consumption in Lanzhou urban residents in summer were 2 142.4, 1 650 and 395.2 mL/d, respectively. The total drinking water consumption, direct drinking water consumption and indirect drinking water consumption in male (2 289.2, 1 800 and 403.6 mL/d) was higher than that in female (2 031.7, 1 500 and 379.9 mL/d) (P < 0.05). The total drinking water consumption of residents in the age of (18~44), (45~64) and 65~year-old was 2 113.6, 2 365.6 and 1 823.8 mL/d, respectively; and their direct drinking water consumption was 1 650, 1 800 and 1 325 mL/d, respectively. The difference between different aged people was different statistically (P < 0.05). The indirect drinking water consumption of manual workers (429.6 mL/d) was higher than that of non-manual workers (368.6 mL/d) (P < 0.05). The indirect drinking water consumption of residents with a body mass index (BMI) of < 18.5, (18.5~23.9), (24.0~27.9) and 28.0~kg/m² was 318.8, 397.4, 426.9 and 421.6 mL/d, respectively (P < 0.05).

Conclusions Gender, age, laboring situation and BMI might have an influence on drinking water consumption of residents in summer in Lanzhou, and these factors should be taken into account in health risk assessment.