Sanitary Situation Analysis for Rural Drinking Water Quality in Nanchang Countryside from 2009 to 2011

Objectives To know the quality of rural drinking water in Nanchang in 2009-2011.

Methods Ten points from the agricultural countryside of Nanchang were selected by the method of stratified random sampling as the monitoring sites in each county.Water samples collected in dry season(January-May)and rain season (June-October)in 2009 to 2011 were examined and the data were statistically analyzed.

Results A total of 479 samples in three years were collected and 218 of them were qualified, accounting for 45.51%.The qualified rates of decentralized drinking water from 2009 to 2011 was 10.34%, 38.78% and 59.80% respectively(χ²=48.96, P < 0.01).The qualified rates of drinking water for centralized and decentralized water supply were 67.83% and 37.80% respectively(χ²=36.35, P < 0.01);the qualified rates of drinking water in dry and wet season were 42.80% and 49.58% respectively(χ²=2.21, P=0.137).Except the qualified rates for pH value, total bacteria and total coliform were less than 90%, the others were higher than 90%.

Conclusions The qualified rate of rural drinking water in Nanchang was low.The main reasons influencing the quality of drinking water in rural Nanchang were low pH value and microbial contamination.The quality of rural drinking water in Nanchang needed to be improved.