=== PAGE 1 === Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement [image] [image] • View all journals • Saved research • Search • Log in • Content Explore content • About the journal • Pub === PAGE 2 === safety in China • Mengjie Liu1,2, • Nigel Graham3, • Wenyu Wang1, • Renzun Zhao4, • Yonglong Lu5, • Menachem Elimelech   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4186-15636 & • … • Wenzheng Yu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9776-80211  Show authors Nature Sustainability volume 5, pages 689–698 (2022) Cite this article Save article View saved research • 8694 Accesses • 101 Citations • 87 Altmetric • Metrics details Subjects • Environmental sciences • Natural hazards An Author Correction to this art === PAGE 3 === This article has been updated Abstract The quality of drinking-water supplies is of fundamental importance to public health and sustainable development. Here, we provide a spatial assessment of the tap-water quality across mainland China. We examine natural and anthropogenic origins of low quality as well as its association with public health risks. By quantifying key indicators, including total organic carbon, ionic conductivity and disinfection by-products (DBPs), we find that precipitation is === PAGE 4 === cancel any time Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles 111,21 € per year only 9,27 € per issue Learn more Buy this article • Purchase on SpringerLink • Instant access to the full article PDF. 39,95 € Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Additional access options: • Log in • Learn about institutional subscriptions • Read our FAQs • Contact customer support Fig. 1: TOC and ionic conductivity of tap-wat === PAGE 5 === [image] Fig. 6: Water-quality improvement by NF. [image] Similar content being viewed by others [image] In vitro bioassays for monitoring drinking water quality of tap water, domestic filtration and bottled water Article Open access 16 June 2023 [image] Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis technologies for disinfection by-product removal Article 16 April 2025 [image] High-molecular-weight by-products of chlorine disinfection Article 17 April 2023 Data availability The water-quality data that suppo === PAGE 6 === A Correction to this paper has been published: https:// doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01911-x References 1. Prüss-Ustün, A. et al. Burden of disease from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene in low- and middle-income settings: a retrospective analysis of data from 145 countries. Trop. Med. Int. Health 19, 894–905 (2014). Article  Google Scholar  2. Bain, R. et al. Accounting for water quality in monitoring access to safe drinking-water as part of the Millennium Development Goals: lessons from f === PAGE 7 === (2008). 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Water Res. 44, 3147–3165 (2010). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  43. Ersan, M. S. et al. Chloramination of iodide-containing waters: formation of iodinated dis === PAGE 13 === halogenated aromatic DBPs. Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 1646– 1656 (2020). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  48. US Method 552.3: Determination of Haloacetic Acids and Dalapon in Drinking Water by Liquid–Liquid Microextraction, Derivatization, and Gas Chromatography with Electron Capture Detection EPA 815-B-03-002, Revision 1.0 (EPA, 2003). 49. US Method 551.1: Determination of Chlorination Disinfection Byproducts, Chlorinated Solvents, and Halogenated Pesticides/ Herbicides in Drinking Water by Liqui === PAGE 14 === This work was financially supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (no. JQ21032, W.Y.), Key Research and Development Plan of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (no. 2019YFD1100104 and no. 2019YFC1906501, W.Y.). Author information Authors and Affiliations 1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Mengjie Liu,  === PAGE 15 === Menachem Elimelech Authors 1. Mengjie Liu View author publications Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar 2. Nigel Graham View author publications Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar 3. Wenyu Wang View author publications Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar 4. Renzun Zhao View author publications Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar 5. Yonglong Lu View author publications Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar 6. Menachem Elimelech View author publications Search author on:PubMed Google === PAGE 16 === led the data compilation, conducted the analysis and led the write- up of the paper. M.L. and W.W. did the experiment. N.G., R.Z., Y.L., M.E. and W.Y. reviewed the paper, exchanged ideas and prepared the final version of the manuscript. Corresponding authors Correspondence to Menachem Elimelech or Wenzheng Yu. Ethics declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Peer review Peer review information Nature Sustainability thanks Baiyang Chen, Antonio Azara, Xiangru Zh === PAGE 17 === Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. Reprints and permissions About this article [image] Cite this article Liu, M., Graham, N., Wang, W. et al. Spatial assessment of tap-water safety in China. 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