Chinanews, Beijing, Oct. 12 – The Ministry of Water Resources published an alarming figure recently saying that in China, 320 million residents in rural areas have no access to safe drinking water.

 

At present, about one-third of the water resources in China cannot be used directly. In some big river valleys, 40% of water is not purified to the standard required by the government. Most rivers, when flowing by cities, are heavily polluted to the extent of affecting people’s health and life quality. In Zhejiang, 21.6% of the water resources cannot be used as drinking water. In Hainan, 1.58 million farmers, or one-third of the total number of farmers in the province, cannot have safe drinking water, although the province receives 2,000 millimeters of precipitation every year. In many areas, the water contains a high degree of fluorine or arsenic, so that it tastes bitter and salty.

 

“The heavier polluted water resources have already impeded the economic development, impaired people's health, and affected social stability. The problem should be dealt with immediately,” said Zhou Shengxian, director-general of the State Environmental Protection Administration, expressing his resolve to fight against water pollution during the eleventh five-year period.

 

The State Council has already required that by 2010, at least 70% of the sewage in cities across China should be properly treated, and at least 60% of the garbage in cities should be innocuously dealt with.