Drink boiled tap water; don't subscribe year-round to bottled water for a dispenser or buy bottled water

Cost

Buy a kettle. Each time you boil water takes a little time, plus a small amount of gas or electricity.

What you get

In Beijing, the first-tier residential water price is 5 CNY per cubic meter, which comes to 0.005 CNY a liter. A bottle of dispenser water at home is 18.9 liters, and at 20 CNY a bottle that is about 1.06 CNY a liter, about 210 times tap water. A family drinking one bottle a week uses 52 bottles a year, about 983 liters, which costs about 1040 CNY in bottled water and about 4.9 CNY in tap water for the same amount. Small bottled water at 1 CNY per 500 milliliters is 2 CNY a liter, 400 times tap water. Drinking water is governed by the mandatory national standard GB 5749-2022. The standard was issued on March 15, 2022 and has been in effect since April 1, 2023. The responsible authority is the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration (国家疾控局) (China, 2015 water price and 2022 standard)

Notes

The dispute is that "meeting the standard" is checked on water leaving the plant and water at the end of the pipes. When the water source or the pipe network has a problem, the standard can briefly fail. On July 16, 2025, the raw water entering the Renhe Waterworks in Yuhang, Hangzhou smelled wrong, and tap water in some residential compounds in Renhe and Liangzhu smelled bad. The official conclusion was that algae decomposed under low-oxygen conditions and produced thioether compounds. After the water source was changed, total coliforms and Escherichia coli were not detected in the water leaving the plant, and all items met the drinking water standard GB 5749-2022. Afterward, 7 officials were held accountable, July water bills were waived in full, and filter cartridges were replaced free of charge. But fecal coliforms at the same water source had been rising for several months before the incident. At the Yongsheng intake on the Tiaoxi, it was 10 per liter in April, 7300 per liter in May and 16000 per liter in June. The limit for Class III in the surface water standard GB 3838 is 10000 per liter. In the same month, Siling Reservoir at 28000 per liter and Mantoushan Reservoir at 24000 per liter also exceeded it. What follows is the author's reminder; the official notice does not say this. Boiling kills only microorganisms. It does not remove odor compounds or chemicals dissolved in the water. If you smell an odd smell, or the water turns yellow or cloudy, stop drinking it, report it to the water supplier and to 12345 (the government service hotline), and switch temporarily to bottled water; don't expect a few more minutes of boiling to cover it up. But this was a local, one-off incident, and the locality compensated residents for it, so it is still not a reason to buy bottled water year-round. The "sewage pipe misconnected" story that spread online was a forged police notice, and its poster has been criminally detained (see §9). The 20 CNY a bottle for dispenser water and 1 CNY per 500 milliliters for bottled water are assumed prices set up for the arithmetic, so recalculate with the actual prices in your own city. Dispenser water is not the cleaner side either: the Chongqing Municipal Market Regulation Administration (重庆市市场监管局) warns that after opening, the longer it is stored the higher the risk of microbial contamination, and the dispenser should be cleaned at least once every 2 to 3 months. If the secondary water supply facilities in an old residential compound do not meet standards, you can add a filter, or buy water only in that situation. Water prices differ from place to place, and the Beijing figure is only for getting an order of magnitude.

Evidence grade

C : The author's experience or common practice, without direct literature.

Sources

1. Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform. Residential Water Price Table [in Chinese]. https://fgw.beijing.gov.cn/bmcx/djcx/jzldj/202003/t20200331_1752796.htm
2. State Administration for Market Regulation, National Standards Full-Text Public Disclosure System. GB 5749-2022 Standards for Drinking Water Quality [in Chinese]. https://openstd.samr.gov.cn/bzgk/std/newGbInfo?hcno=99E9C17E3547A3C0CE2FD1FFD9F2F7BE
3. Hangzhou Joint Investigation Team (2025). Report on the Investigation of Abnormal Water Supply in Some Residential Communities in Yuhang District, Hangzhou [in Chinese] (July 23, 2025), republished by Xinhua. http://www.news.cn/20250723/1be62dac3b0b4461a643791ff552e93d/c.html
4. Yuhang District People's Government, Hangzhou. Source Water Quality Monitoring Data for Yuhang District, April / May / June 2025 [in Chinese] (published by Hangzhou Yuhang Water Holding Group; tested by Hangzhou Jiashu Environmental Monitoring Co., Ltd.; Table 1, item 24 "fecal coliforms" in the PDF attachment) https://www.yuhang.gov.cn/art/2025/5/8/art_1229204072_59140140.html, https://www.yuhang.gov.cn/art/2025/6/5/art_1229204072_59142885.html, https://www.yuhang.gov.cn/art/2025/7/3/art_1229204072_59146464.html
5. Cyber Security Bureau, Ministry of Public Security (2025). Fabricating a False "Police Notice" and Inventing a "Sewage" Rumor: a Man Surnamed Shao Is Placed in Criminal Detention [in Chinese] http://www.news.cn/politics/20250722/3178b3bd189c4eb4b293982e92aab438/c.html
6. Chongqing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation (2022). Consumer Tips on Bottled Drinking Water [in Chinese] (October 25, 2022) https://scjgj.cq.gov.cn/bkzs/spbk/202210/t20221025_11222964.html

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 5, tip 14. This section is about money and spending. It is general information, not financial or investment advice. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer