Research On Drinking Water Safety Evaluation System In Rural Area Of Zhejians Province

Drinking water safety in rural areas has been a critical policy of the CPC Central Committee and State Department and one of the central tasks of the current and future reformation of water management system. During the "Eleventh Five-Year," Zhejiang Province has taken the initiative to implement the "Millions of Peasants Drinking Water Project" and successfully increased rural water coverage to95.8%. In the "Twelfth Five-Year" period, the major concern will further improve drinking water safety standards in rural areas through the implementation of upgrading water safety projects.The evaluation of drinking water safety levels in rural areas, however, remains to be an underdeveloped subject. Based on a synergy of domestic and international research, laws and regulations, and management with an entry to the issue at the meaning and impact factors of rural drinking water safety, this paper creates a set of criteria and standards for assessing and evaluating drinking water safety that are practical and realizable in the context of local rural communities. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), this paper structures a rural drinking water safety hierarchy model consisting of the target layer, the measurement layer, and the action layer. Through weight analysis and calculation of and assignment of value to each index of the action layer, the paper establishes the index grading standards that lead to the ultimate drinking water safety evaluation criteria.The project applies its research results to the evaluation of rural drinking water safety in Cangnan County by doing which generates some inspection and correction to the evaluation system itself and provides a reference example for using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for rural drinking water safety evaluation as well. The ideas and methods presented here may contain practical significance for the further standardization and formalization of rural water supply and the construction and operation of a long-term mechanism regarding drinking water safety.