International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 12 | Dec 2025
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
Comparative analysis of drinking water standards between China and Nigeria. Adamudu Alexander Ogwuche1, Yongji Zhang1*, Iyobosa Eheneden1 1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment and
Sustainable Development, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
2. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment and
Sustainable Development, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
3. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment and
Sustainable Development, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China -------------------------------------------------------------------------***-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract- Drinking water quality standards are essential for ensuring safe and sustainable water supplies worldwide. However,
significant differences exist between countries in their regulatory frameworks, parameter limits, and enforcement mechanisms. This review provides a comparative analysis of drinking water standards between China and Nigeria, focusing on the national frameworks, parameter limits, and institutional architectures that govern drinking water quality. China’s GB 5749-2022 standard reflects the country’s rapid urbanization, technological advancement, and growing concerns about emerging contaminants. In contrast, Nigeria’s NSDWQ (NIS 554:2015), based on WHO guidelines, faces challenges due to fragmented regulatory frameworks, inconsistent enforcement, and limited monitoring capacity. This review examines these differences, identifies gaps in both countries’ compliance with global norms, and recommends strategies to improve water quality governance. Main recommendations include strengthening institutional coordination, updating standards to address emerging contaminants, and enhancing digital compliance systems for better monitoring and enforcement. The analysis emphasizes the importance of adapting global standards to local contexts while addressing emerging water quality risks to ensure equitable access to safe drinking water. Keywords: Drinking water standards, China, Nigeria, Water quality, comparative analysis.
1. Introduction. Robust national water quality standards translate health risk science into enforceable regulatory limits for drinking and ambient waters, underpinning surveillance systems, treatment design, and public reporting required for achieving SDG 6. The World Health Organization’s 2022 Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (GDWQ) remain the global reference framework, emphasizing health based targets, water safety plans, and risk based surveillance calibrated to local contamination profiles and institutional capacity (Tsaridou and Karabelas 2021;Han et al. 2023). These guidelines have increasingly shaped national regulatory reforms worldwide as countries respond to intensifying anthropogenic pressures, emerging contaminants, and evolving scientific evidence. China’s recently revised GB 5749-2022 standard, effective from April 2023, represents one of the most comprehensive national updates to drinking water regulation in Asia. The revision expands parameter coverage, updates analytical methods, and strengthens hygiene requirements for centralized and secondary water supplies. Implementation is coordinated through a vertically integrated regulatory architecture involving the National Health Commission, market surveillance agencies, and environmental authorities, and is complemented by the surface water quality framework defined under GB 3838-2002. The update reflects China’s response to increasingly complex pollution pressures linked to rapid urbanization, industrial discharges, and broader ecological challenges that necessitate frequent recalibration of microbiological, chemical, and disinfection-by-product (DBP) controls [3]. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ; NIS 554:2015) remains the primary regulatory benchmark, specifying maximum allowable concentrations for microbiological, physical, and chemical contaminants, with limits largely adapted from WHO guideline values. [4] However, empirical studies consistently show that actual water quality particularly in small towns, per-urban areas, and rural settlements frequently fails to meet these regulatory thresholds, with recurrent exceed dances in microbial indicators, turbidity, and selected metals. [5]. Microbial contamination of packaged and
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