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Guizhou Solving Problem of Drinking Water
Can't imagine water will be a problem in Guizhou because people who think of Guizhou will think of the greatest waterfall of China --- Huangguoshu. The mighty water jumping in numerous Guizhou's valleys makes Guizhou a hydraulic power giant, according to report of CCTV.
But, the water in Guizhou simply runs away from the province, because the Karst topography there contains only a thin layer of soil on the low land. Underneath is just the hard limestone crust. So irrigation and drinking water depend on either the mountain streams or the rainfalls.
In a village at the Baijing Township of Huishui County, all of the 200 families' daily use of water comes from this pool of rainwater. Most of the crops in the field are watered only by chancy rainfalls.
In the mountains of southeast Guizhou, ethnic Miao people have a tradition of building their houses on the mountain slopes to save the flat lands for growing crops. For thousands of years, they have been carrying drinking water from the river valley up to their houses.
They spend lots of time and energy for this very basic need. River water is not purified before drinking. Even used water is saved for other purposes.
In 1998, Guizhou launched a "Drinking Water to Home Project" to tackle the problem.
The local governments are now building running water systems in the mountainous areas with state funding and donation from the residents themselves.
Purified water from small water reservoirs is running to households scattered in the mountains. This urban convenience is no longer a dream for the mountain dwellers.
The project is yet to reach more villages. For those places where the only source of water is rain, the "drinking water to home" is still a whim.
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