(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-18 20:04

BEIJING - In China's rural areas 44.36 percent of drinking water is unhealthy and fails to meet government standards, said a spokesman with the Ministry of Health Monday.

"The condition of drinking water in rural areas still has a long way to go to improve the health condition and living quality for rural people," said spokesman Mao Qunan.

"The health condition of the drinking water and the sanitary conditions for rural people still need improvement," he said.

The national survey launched jointly by the Ministry of Health and the National Committee for the Patriotic Public Health Campaign, is the first investigation into drinking water and sanitation conditions in rural areas.

Mao said that the unhealthy water led to outbreaks of diarrhoea and other diseases, adding that 40.44 percent surface water and 45.94 percent ground water were below the sanitary standard regulation on rural areas' drinking water released in 2006.

Mao said in China's countryside, 74.87 percent people drank underground water while 25.13 percent drank surface water. He blamed unhealthy water on microbes in the water.

"Most people living in rural areas do not have their drinking water sterilized, and often they just drink the well water, which may have been polluted already," the spokesman said.

The survey from August 2006 to November 2007 used nearly 7,000 samples from 65,839 homes in 6,590 villages, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.