Report: One Half of China's Water Undrinkable

A report issued recently by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection discloses that only half of mainland China's water is suitable for drinking.

Inspection officials from the Ministry analyzed water samples from the mainland's major lakes and rivers in the first half of 2010 and declared only 49.3% of them were safe as drinking water resources, this figure up from 48% last year.

China's Water Ranking System

China ranks its water resources' toxicity using six grades, with the first three grades ranked safe for drinking and bathing.

Another 26.4% is purported to reside in categories 4 and 5 − fit only for use in industry and agriculture − leaving a remaining 24.3% in category 6 − unfit for use in any application.

Despite the promulgation of new protective regulations over the last ten years, China's main environmental watchdog continues to struggle in monitoring and enforcing the activities of thousands of cement factories, small paper mills, and chemical plants - all of which discharge industrial waste into the country's waterways. Excessive use of fertilizers has also left the majority of China's lakes and rivers choked with algae blooms.

While the bulk of China's manufacturing plants resides outside urban districts, industry's effect upon the population has risen as a ubiquitous factor regardless of location.

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Resources:

www.reuters.com
www.mep.gov.cn
John Melendez's other China Articles

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Melendez is a freelance writer reporting on technology, the environment, sustainability, alternative energies and "green" issues. John Melendez is a writer for hire. To email him, go to http://www.emailmeform.com/fid.php?formid=19595

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