Objective To understand the hygienic status of drinking water in rural schools in Rizhao City, and to discuss the management measures of drinking water for rural schools.

Methods The drinking water samples of all rural schools in Rizhao City were collected for regular monitoring in wet and dry seasons. In 2013, 1/3 of the rural schools were randomly selected to test drinking water quality; in 2014, 1/2 of the rural schools not enrolled last year were randomly selected for the test; in 2015, the rest of the rural schools were tested.

Results There were 30.77% of the rural schools taking disinfection measures in drinking water systems. The qualification rate of water quality of the 192 drinking water samples with disinfection measures was 90.10%, and the rate of the 432 drinking water samples without disinfection measures was 53.01% (χ²=30.40, P < 0.05). The qualification rate of microbial index of drinking water samples with qualified and disqualified disinfectant indexes was 98.33% and 25% respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (χ²=91.12, P < 0.05).

Conclusion The findings indicate a low rate of drinking water systems equipped with disinfection devices and a low rate of qualified water quality in rural schools without disinfection measures. Therefore, the rural schools should take improved disinfection measures to ensure the hygiene of students' drinking water.