Objective To investigate the publicizing and implementation status of five standards for drinking water quality, i.e., the Standards for Drinking Water Quality (GB 5749-2022), the Standard Examination Methods for Drinking Water (GB/T 5750-2023), the Hygienic Specification for Facilities of Secondary Water Supply (GB 17051-1997), the Hygienic Safety Evaluation for Chemicals Used in Drinking Water Treatment (GB/T 17218-1998), and the Standard for Safety Evaluation of Equipment and Protective Materials in Drinking Water System (GB/T 17219-1998), and the awareness rate, satisfaction degree, existing problems, and revision suggestions of the users of the standards in Jiangsu province, China.

Methods A total of 124 professionals from 78 agencies including centers for disease control and prevention, institutes of public health supervision, and other related agencies (third party inspection agencies, water supply companies, and manufacturers of water-related products) in Jiangsu province who were involved in the use of the standards were selected as the research subjects using the judgmental sampling method from May to September 2024. A survey was conducted on the implementation, training, publicizing, awareness rate, practicality, degree of satisfaction, opinions, and suggestions on the standards.

Results The usage rates of GB 5749-2022 and GB/T 5750-2023 among respondents were 81.45% and 66.13%, respectively, but the usage rates of GB 17051-1997, GB/T 17218-1998, and GB/T 17219-1998 were all below 35.00%. The users of each standard had a high awareness rate of some content of the standard, but the proportion of the users who had reached the proficiency level of the standard content was low. Among the users of each standard, 43.56% and 45.12% of the users thought that the training, publicizing, and implementation of GB 5749-2022 and GB/T 5750-2023 were not in place or did not participate in the training class, respectively. However, 50.00% and above of the users thought that the training, publicizing, and implementation of GB 17051-1997, GB/T 17218-1998, and GB/T 17219-1998 were not in place or did not participate in the training class. The degree of overall satisfaction of the respondents to the five standards was more than 85.00%.

Conclusion The overall satisfaction rate of the five standards for drinking water quality in Jiangsu province is more than 74.00%, but it is necessary to further strengthen the training, publicizing, and implementation of the standards for users, especially those who worked at grass-roots institutions. Some contents of GB 17051-1997, GB/T 17218-1998, and GB/T 17219-1998 need to be revised as soon as possible.