(Beijing) – China plans to adopt stricter quality standards for drinking water in July, but treatment facilities nationwide are hard-pressed to meet existing criteria. Experts say half of the country's water supply plants cannot meet current standards. 

A 2009 government survey of more than 4,000 urban water supply plants found more than one-quarter failed to meet national standards, said Song Lanhe, chief scientist of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's water quality monitor center. The results of the survey have not been released to the public.