Drink boiled tap water; don’t subscribe to water-cooler barrels or buy bottled water year-round

In Beijing, tap water works out to 0.005 yuan per liter. Water-cooler barrel water at 20 yuan a barrel comes to about 1 yuan per liter, more than 200 times as much. A household that drinks one barrel a week spends a little over 1,000 yuan a year, while the same amount of tap water costs under 5 yuan. Tap water is covered by a mandatory national standard, so boiling it is enough in normal times. When the water smells foul or looks cloudy, boiling won’t fix it: stop drinking it and report the problem.

Cost

You only need to purchase a kettle. Boiling water takes a bit of time, plus there are minimal gas or electricity costs.

Benefit

The first-tier residential water price in Beijing is 5 yuan per cubic meter, which equals 0.005 yuan per liter. A barrel of water for a household water cooler holds 18.9 liters; at 20 yuan per barrel that is about 1.06 yuan per liter, roughly 210 times the price of tap water. A household that drinks one barrel a week uses 52 barrels a year, about 983 liters: barrel water costs about 1,040 yuan, while the same amount of tap water costs about 4.9 yuan. Small bottled water at 1 yuan per 500 milliliters is 2 yuan per liter, 400 times the price of tap water. Tap water must comply with the mandatory national standard GB 5749-2022, which was issued on March 15, 2022, and took effect on April 1, 2023. The National Disease Control and Prevention Administration oversees this standard (Chinese water prices in 2015 vs. the 2022 standard)

Notes

The controversy stems from the fact that “compliance” is assessed only for water leaving treatment plants and at pipe endpoints. When the water source or distribution network is compromised, these standards may be temporarily unmet. On July 16, 2025, the raw water entering the Renhe Water Plant in Yuhang, Hangzhou, had an unusual odor, causing tap water in parts of Renhe and Liangzhu to smell foul. Officials attributed this to algae decomposing under low-oxygen conditions, producing sulfur-containing compounds. After switching to a different water source, tests showed no traces of total coliforms or E. coli in the treated water, and all other parameters met GB 5749-2022 requirements. Seven officials were held accountable, all July water bills were waived, and free water filters were distributed. Yet, fecal coliform counts at this same water source had been rising for months prior to the incident: at the Yongsheng intake point on the Tiaoxi River, counts rose from 10 per liter in April to 7,300 per liter in May and 16,000 per liter in June — exceeding the GB 3838 Class III surface water limit of 10,000 per liter. Counts at Siling Reservoir and Mantoushan Reservoir also surpassed this threshold that month at 28,000 and 24,000 per liter respectively. Boiling water only kills microorganisms; it cannot remove foul odors or dissolved chemicals. If water smells odd or appears yellow or cloudy, stop drinking it, report it to your water provider and via 12345, and temporarily switch to bottled water — but don’t expect a few extra minutes of boiling to resolve the issue. These incidents are localized and occasional; local compensation was provided, so they do not justify buying bottled water year-round. Online claims about “incorrectly connected sewage pipes” are fabrications based on fake police reports; the poster has since been criminally detained (see Section 9). The 20 yuan per barrel for barrel water and the 1 yuan per 500 milliliters for bottled water are both hypothetical figures for calculation purposes; use the actual prices in your own city instead. Barrel water is not the cleaner option either: the Chongqing Municipal Market Supervision Administration warns that the longer a barrel sits after opening, the higher the risk of microbial contamination, and a water cooler should be cleaned at least every 2 to 3 months. Residents in older neighborhoods with substandard secondary water supply systems may install filters or buy bottled water only in such cases. Water prices vary by region, so the Beijing figure is merely illustrative.

Sources · 6

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