Abstract
Rural China faces a shortage of safe drinking water. There are significant challenges associated with small centralized water supply systems and decentralized water supply systems. Many rural residents use point-of-use water treatment systems to ensure the safety of their drinking water. The actual water purification effect and applicability of these water treatment systems in small centralized and decentralized water supply systems need to be determined urgently. In this study, the water quality index (WQI) method was applied for the first time in rural areas to evaluate the effectiveness of point-of-use water treatment systems. A total of 67 reverse osmosis water treatment systems were tested. The rate of compliance with drinking water standards of the decentralized water supply was low (37%). Compared with untreated water, the use of a reverse osmosis water treatment system improved the rate of compliance with drinking water standards, but this effect was not satisfactory (8%). Among the factors potentially affecting the purified water quality of point-of-use water treatment systems (e.g., service time of the water treatment system, service time of the filter element, and type of water source), the service time of the filter element had the most significant influence on the water quality. If the filter element had not been replaced for a long period, the removal effect of the water treatment system on the total hardness, sulfide, copper, and ammonia nitrogen was significantly affected, reducing the quality of the purified water. To ensure the safety of drinking water, it is recommended to replace the filter element of a reverse osmosis water treatment system at least once a year.
Highlights
Access to adequate and safe drinking water is considered a basic human right and a guarantee to human health and sustainable development [1,2,3]
Among these water treatment systems, reverse osmosis water treatment systems, which consist of a water pump, front filter (PP cotton column and activated carbon adsorption column), reverse osmosis filter element, rear filter, and water faucet [18], are widely used for treatment of domestic drinking water [16]
Based on the factors that had the greatest influence on the domestic water treatment system, the efficiency of removing various water quality parameters by the rural point-of-use water treatment system was analyzed, and suggestions were made for the correct use of a point-of-use water treatment system
Summary
Access to adequate and safe drinking water is considered a basic human right and a guarantee to human health and sustainable development [1,2,3]. Studies have shown that point-of-use water treatment systems can effectively reduce the risk of drinking water contamination [14,17]. In China, most point-of-use water treatment systems have been designed to filter urban drinking water supplied by a centralized water supply The applicability of these water treatment facilities in decentralized water supply models in rural areas is unclear. We applied a WQI calculation method that identifies the number of water quality parameters responsible for the drinking water standard exceedance and the extent of the exceedance [20,32]. No acute threat to human health.” (i.e., WQI < 1) was the key criterion and we applied a regression analysis method to analyze the factors that potentially affect rural point-of-use water treatment systems (e.g., system use time, filter element use time, etc.). Based on the factors that had the greatest influence on the domestic water treatment system (the service time of the filter element), the efficiency of removing various water quality parameters by the rural point-of-use water treatment system was analyzed, and suggestions were made for the correct use of a point-of-use water treatment system
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