Safe drinking water in China Part 1: a comparison of water quality in Lishui (China) with London (UK)
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In China most people drink boiled tap water, with an understanding that drinking unboiled tap water is not safe.
According to the 2018 China’s Water Resource Bulletin only 87% of reservoirs, 82% of the rivers, 25% of lakes and 24% of shallow groundwater met the criteria for drinking water supply sources. As such, it would seem appropriate to be concerned about the drinkability of tap water in China.
A quote obtained by China Daily from Fan Kangping, director of the water quality center of Beijing Waterworks Group, claimed that “the water piped out is clean and safe but gets contaminated before it reaches users”.
There are many claims online on popular websites such as Reddit and YouTube that the water in China is not drinkable, supported by goverments such as the United Kingdom who state as a travel advisory that Chinese “tap water is generally not safe to drink”.
Given these concerns, I report laboratory testing performed by CMA Testing on a sample of tap water obtained from Liandu District, Lishui, Zhejiang Province, China. I compare this to a water report by Thames water for Upton Park, an area of East London in the United Kingdom. While some people in London prefer to use a water softener, the water is safe to drink without boiling or filtering.
| Chinese | English | Lishui | London | China limit | UK limit | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pH | pH | 8.4 | 7.73 | 6.5-8.5 | 6.50-9.50 | pH |
| 总硬度 | Total hardness as CaCO3 | 48 | 265 | 450 | mg/L | |
| 砷 | Arsenic as As | <0.09 | 1 | 0.01 | 10 | μg/L |
| 铬 | Chromium as Cr | <4 | <2.5 | 50 | 50 | μg/L |
| 铅 | Lead as Pb | <0.07 | 2.3 | 10 | 10 | μg/L |
| 汞 | Mercury as Hg | <0.1 | <0.07 | 1 | 1 | μg/L |
| 氰化物 | Cyanide as CN | <2 | <4.1 | 50 | 50 | μg/L |
| 氟化物 | Fluoride as F | <0.1 | 0.16 | 1 | 1.5 | mg/L |
| 硝酸盐 | Nitrate as NO3 | 3.28 | 29.6 | 10 | 50 | mg/L |
| 溴酸盐 | Bromate as BrO3 | <5 | 1.3 | 10 | 10 | μg/L |
| 铁 | Iron as Fe | 70 | 5 | 300 | 200 | μg/L |
| 锰 | Manganese as Mn | 3 | 0.6 | 100 | 50 | μg/L |
| 铜 | Copper as Cu | 0.003 | 0.022 | 1 | 2 | mg/L |
| 氯化物 | Chloride as Cl | 3.1 | 53 | 250 | 250 | mg/L |
| 硫酸盐 | Sulphate as SO4 | 3.6 | 54 | 250 | 250 | mg/L |
| 三卤甲烷 | Trihalomethanes | <0.041 | 24 | 100 | 100 | μg/L |
The water in Lishui, China is more alkaline and softer than water in London, with no evidence of heavy metal contamination. Indeed, most heavy metals are found in lower concerntrations than in the UK tap water. The concerntration of nitrates in the London water sample is actually above the China regulatory limit, which is 5x lower than the UK limit. All tested species in the Lishui water are below both the UK and China limits. No bacterial contaimation was found.
While this is only a single sample of water from a single building in China, this suggests that the water quality may be higher than is generally understood.
On a personal level, I will stop drinking bottled water at home and instead drink either boiled or unboiled tap water. However I will still purchase bottled water or drink boiled water when away from home. In addition, I will switch to a toothpaste with higher levels of fluoride to compensate for the lower levels of fluoride in the drinking water compared to the UK.
Supplementary information:
Raw water report data can be downloaded as a .csv here.
CMA Testing certificate can be viewed here.
