The quality of groundwater or surface water is a major problem in China, be it because of man-made
water pollution or natural contamination. China's extraordinary economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization, coupled with inadequate investment in basic water supply and treatment infrastructure, has resulted in widespread water pollution.
Pollution at
Liujiaxia Dam , China. July 2007 Deterioration of drinking water quality continues to be a major problem in China.
Continuous emissions from manufacturing is the largest contributor to lowered drinking quality across the
People's Republic, but introduction of poorly treated sewage, industrial spills, and extensive use of agricultural
fertilizers and
pesticides have proven to be major contributors as well. Furthermore, these water quality issues couple with seasonal scarcity of water to spark endemic water shortages, which frequently affect millions of people to some extent. According to China's
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in 2006, 60% of the country's rivers suffer from pollution to such an extent that they cannot be safely used as drinking water sources. According to the 2008 State of the Environment Report by the
Ministry of Environmental Protection, the successor agency of SEPA, pollution of specific rivers is as follows: • The
Pearl River and the
Yangtze River had "good water quality"; • The
Songhua River was "slightly polluted" (it was "moderately polluted" in 2006); • The
Liaohe River, the
Huai River, and the
Yellow River were "moderately polluted" (another translation says they "had poor water quality"); and • the
Haihe River which flows through
Beijing and
Tianjin was "badly polluted". A 2006 article by the Chinese Embassy in the UK stated that approximately 300 million nationwide have no access to clean water. Almost 90% of underground water in cities are affected by pollution and as well as 70% of China's rivers and lakes. A 2008 report about the
Yellow River argued that severe pollution caused by factory discharges and sewage from fast-expanding cities has made one-third of the river unusable even for agricultural or industrial use. The report covered data more than 8,384 miles of the river, one of the longest waterways in the world, and its tributaries. The Yellow River Conservancy Committee, which surveyed more than 8,384 miles of the river in 2007, said 33.8% of the river system registered worse than level five. According to criteria used by the UN Environment Program, level five is unfit for drinking, aquaculture, industrial use and even agriculture. The report said waste and sewage discharged into the system last year totaled 4.29 billion tonnes. Industry and manufacturing provided 70% of the discharge into the river, with households accounting for 23% and just over 6% coming from other sources. According to an article in
The Guardian, in 2005, deputy minister Qiu Baoxing stated that more than 100 out of the 660 cities had extreme water shortages. Pan Yue, deputy director of the state environmental protection agency, warned that economic growth was unsustainable due to the water problems. In 2004 the
World Bank warned that the scarcity of the resource would lead to "a fight between rural interests, urban interests and industrial interests on who gets water in China." A 2016 research study indicated that China's water contains dangerous amounts of the cancer-causing agent nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). In China, NDMA is thought to be a byproduct of local water treatment processes (which involve heavy chlorination).
Pollution incidents There have been a high number of river pollution incidents in recent years in China, such as drinking water source pollution by algae in the
Lake Tai,
Wuxi in May 2007. There was a "bloom of blue-green algae that gave off a rotten smell" shutting off the main source of drinking water supply to 5.8 million people. By September 2007, the city had closed or given notice to close more than 1,340 polluting factories. The city ordered the rest to clean up by June or be permanently shut down. The closing of the factories resulted in a 15% reduction of local
GDP. The severe pollution had been known for many years, but factories had been allowed to continue to operate until the crisis erupted. In April 2005 there were dozens of injuries in
Dongyang city,
Zhejiang Province, due to clashes over the nearby chemical factories of the Juxi Industrial Park accused of water pollution that harmed crops and led to deformed babies being born. According to the article, a quarter of the population lacked clean drinking water and less than a third of the waste was treated. China is expected to face worsening water shortages until 2030 when the population peaks. The Hubei Shuanghuan Science and Technology Stock Co poisoned at least 100 tonnes (220,000 lb) of fish in central Hubei province in September 2013 when ammonia was discharged into the Fuhe river. According to a 2007 report by the World Bank, the pollution scandals demonstrate that, if not immediately and effectively controlled, pollution releases can spread across the boundaries of administrative jurisdictions, causing "environmental and economic damage as well as public concern and the potential for social unease". Once an accident has occurred, the impact on the environment and human health becomes more difficult and more costly to control. Therefore, the report recommends prevention of pollution by strict enforcement of appropriate policies and regulations.
Natural contamination Large portions of China's
aquifers suffer from
arsenic contamination of groundwater.
Arsenic poisoning occurs after long-term exposure to contaminated groundwater through drinking. The phenomenon was first detected in China in the 1950s. As water demand grows, wells are being drilled deeper and now frequently tap into arsenic-rich aquifers. As a consequence, arsenic poisoning is rising. To date there have been more than 30,000 cases reported with about 25 million people exposed to dangerously high levels in their drinking water. According to the
WHO over 26 million people in China suffer from
dental fluorosis (weakening of teeth) due to elevated
fluoride in their drinking water. In addition, over 1 million cases of
skeletal fluorosis (weakening of bones) are thought to be attributable to drinking water. High levels of fluoride occur in groundwater and defluorination is in many cases unaffordable. == Conservation and sanitation ==