Objective To survey the changes in water purification knowledge and behaviors among the staff of a public institution in Beijing, China in 2021 and 2023, and to propose measures for enhancing water purification knowledge literacy and behavior transformation targeting different populations.

Methods A questionnaire survey was distributed to the staff of a Beijing public institution in 2021 and 2023 to investigate their demographic characteristics, water purification knowledge, and use of household water purification equipment. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0.

Results From 2021 to 2023, the staff had significant increases in the total score of water purification knowledge and score of drinking water safety knowledge (both P < 0.05); the propotion of staff with very good understanding and certain understanding of the Standards for Drinking Water Quality increased from 16.8% to 23.6% and from 56.6% to 60.9%, respectively (P < 0.05); the awareness rate of the limit value of residual chlorine increased from 45.4% to 63.8% (P < 0.05); and the awareness rate of the purpose of disinfection increase from 81.6% to 89.7% (P < 0.05). Regarding the utilization of household water purification equipment from 2021 to 2023, there were significant changes in the type of drinking water consumed in the households (all P < 0.05); the rate of drinking barreled water decreased from 33.7% to 12.6%, the rate of using water filter pitchers increased from 3.1% to 24.1%, and the replacing rate of barreled water within 1-5 days increased from 37.8% to 63.6%.

Conclusion From 2021 to 2023, water purification knowledge literacy and water purification equipment usage increased among the staff of a Beijing public institution.