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Huaihe River Avoids Pollution Disaster: SEPA
The Huaihe River running through central and east China has avoided a pollution disaster, which was almost caused by waste water discharged from its upper reaches recently, according to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
A total of 144 million cubic meters of river water, contaminated by industrial and farming waste and domestic sewage, has moved downstream, posing less of a threat to the environment and the lives of residents along the river, said SEPA official Fan Yuansheng.
Meanwhile, 171 enterprises in Henan, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, through which the river runs, are still abiding by an early government order to stop production and limit waste discharges, said Fan, a leader of a SEPA team which has just finished an investigation into the Huaihe River pollution.
The water quality is under close surveillance by relevant departments in the provinces.
"The safety of drinking water and water for industrial use can be guaranteed," Fan said.
The Huaihe River, one of China's biggest, winds through a densely-populated region where more than 100 million people live. The river has become more and more vulnerable to water pollution since the 1980s due to increasing discharges of industrial and domestic waste along with rapid development of the local economy.
The water in more than half of the 16 major tributaries was once polluted so badly that it could no longer be used for any purpose.
The SEPA and local environmental protection authorities have enhanced treatment measures since the late 1990s, ordering enterprises which fail to meet waste discharge standards to upgrade treatment facilities, limit production, or even close down.
Although the water quality has been improved, heavy pollution could return at any time if discharge restrictions are loosened, experts warned.
The recent pollution crisis was caused by waste water stored in the upper reaches by water locks which become operational during the dry season to save water. The pollution was later pushed downstream by flood water.
In an emergency circular issued early this month, the SEPA ordered the firms which are up to the State pollutant discharge requirements to reduce discharges of waste water by cutting or suspending production.
Environmental officials warned the polluted water may affect the supply of drinking water in Huainan and Bengbu cities in Anhui Province, and aquatic farming and rice production on the middle and lower reaches of the river.
Tap water plants in the two cities use the river water for drinking water production.
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