In order to meet people's demand for a better environment, the law on prevention and control of water pollution should ensure that the control of discharge can ultimately improve the water quality. Different from the discharge standards that are used to control individual discharge behaviors, the water quality standards that stipulate the allowable concentration of various pollutants in water can be used to convert the preset water quality goals into the total quantity of control, and to realize the water quality goals by accurately evaluating the implementation effect on water pollution prevention and control in government departments. Therefore, water quality standards should be taken as the core of standards in water pollution prevention and control law. To improve water quality standards, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of local water quality standards, including promoting the cooperation of local governments to develop river basin water quality standards, gradually promoting the separation of discharge standards and water quality standards, and establishing a system to prevent water quality degradation. Accordingly, the relevant legal systems on prevention and control of water pollution should also be adjusted, such as the planning system to achieve the water quality goal within a time limit, a local governmentbased total quantity control system, and the systems bridging water quality standards and discharge permits.