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Beijing Works Hard to Tackle its Water Shortage
A series of projects to improve Beijing's water by plugging leaks and cleaning up rivers has been successfully completed, the Beijing Water Resources Bureau (BWRB) said.
Most of the projects were part of a package of 26 measures launched by the Beijing municipal government earlier this year, according to Wednesday's Chinadaily.
The changes have included improving irrigation in the city's parks and closing more than 1,000 car washes which did not recycle water.
In addition, two million water-saving taps will be distributed to residents free of charge before the end of November, the paper said.
As the average water reserves per person is only 300 cubic meters, much less than the world and national average, Beijing had experienced severe water shortages.
To make things worse, droughts last year and this year further reduced both underground and surface reserves.
According to Bi Xiaogang, a senior official with BWRB, a scheme to renovate the Jingmi water channel, a major supply canal from Miyun Reservoir to Beijing, was started earlier this month.
Beijing's yearly water consumption is about 2.3 billion cubic meters, and the channel supplies 500 million cubic meters of water to China's capital every year.
Dai Lan, an official from the same bureau, said the renovation project had begun because leaks from the channel had become a serious problem.
Another project, to transform the 23.6-kilometer-long Qinghe River in northern Beijing, began in late September.
Serious pollution in the river has badly affected the Summer Palace, Qinghua University and Zhongguancun high-tech zone.
The project, expected to be finished by the end of next year, will cost more than 500 million yuan (about 60.24 million U.S. dollars), said Ding Kai, another official with BWRB.
After completion, water quality in the river will be improved from level five, the lowest national standard, to level four, although it will still not be good enough to drink.
The project will include widening the river and planting trees and grass along its banks. Flood prevention along the river is also expected to be improved, the paper said.
According to Ding, Beijing's Bahe and Liangma rivers -- the latter of which flows across diplomatic and business areas - will also be cleaned next year.
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