Difference on the Hygienic Status of Drinking Water between Floating Population and Local Residents in Rural Fengtai District

Objectives To grasp the difference of drinking water status between floating population and local residents in rural Fengtai District, Beijing, and to provide basic information for improving the equal access to public health service.

Methods The basic information on the rural water supply and the demographic situation was surveyed in 68 administrative villages.The status of drinking water was investigated in 300 floating population households and 300 local villager households selected by using a three-stage sampling method, and one person from each household was inquired. Eighteen water indexes of well water and barreled water produced by local water factories were detected, and the results were assessed according to the "Standards for Drinking Water Quality" (GB 5749-2006).

Results The total responders were 596, including 289 floating population and 307 local villagers. There were 91.0% of floating population and 82.7% of local villagers consuming well water, and 36.5% of floating population and 63.5% of local villagers consuming barreled drinking water.The percent of barreled water consumption accounted for the total water consumption was 78.1% in floating population and 84.0% in local villagers. The general qualified rate of well water was 11.6% and that of barreled water was 85.0%. A total of 36.9% of responders were unsatisfied with the quality of their well water because of high in turbidity and total hardness.

Conclusions The water supply was shared unequally between floating population and local residents because of the difference on prices in some areas, and the residential situation of floating population was poor. The safety of drinking water and residential situation of floating population should be improved.