Rachel Hou/Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai is testing a remote monitoring system to inspect wastewater discharges by factories in an effort to meet the central government’s order to cut 2005’s sulfur dioxide emissions 26 percent and chemical oxygen demand 15 percent by 2010.

The systems have been installed in more than half of the city’s 100 wastewater outlets. The devices inspect chemical oxygen demand, PH levels and the flow rate of water. The data will be transmitted to the Shanghai Environmental Protection Administration via Internet.

“It’s a deterrent against factories that discharge wastewater illegally. In the past, we rushed to the scene to collect water samples only after tips from the public. Now we can monitor it through the Internet,”said Fang Fang, vice director of the administration.

No water pollution accidents were recorded in the city’s rivers for the past two years thanks to a series of measures to reduce industrial pollutants, Fang said.

The city plans to cut its sulfur dioxide emission and chemical oxygen demand two percent each this year. Its sulfur dioxide emissions and chemical oxygen demand dropped one percent and 0.7 percent respectively last year.