Tap water sources unsecured
17/1/2006 7:20
Shanghai Daily news
Shipping, farming, and other
activities that could lead to pollution should be limited around the city's two
tap-water sources to ensure the safety of the city's water supply, members of an
advisory panel to the city government proposed yesterday.
They also called
for a comprehensive inspection of potential pollution sources, such as chemical
plants, to find any possible hazards and prevent accidents.
"It's difficult
for us to rule out all human activities in the water source areas like they do
in developed countries, but limits should be set," Shen Jianhua, a delegate to
the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference, said in his proposal.
Shen said the limits are especially
important near the newly established water sources.
The city has two major
water sources. One along the upper reaches of the Huangpu River supplies about
70 percent of Shanghai's fresh water, while the rest comes from a source along
the Yangtze River.
While the city has passed a law to protect the water
source along the Huangpu River, no such law has been enacted to ensure the
safety of the Yangtze River source.
A 1,000-square-kilometer reserve area has
been set up around the source along the Huangpu River. Farming is limited in the
area, although shipping is still allowed.
"So there are accidents from time
to time like oil spill that endangered the sources, apart from some pollution
from poultry and cattle farms that keep detracting from our efforts," said an
unnamed official from the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.
Besides,
the two water sources are faced with pollution that flows in from
out-of-town.
To ensure water safety, officials are studying the possibility
of setting up a new source of tap water at the mouth of the Yangtze
River.
But the new source is faced with the same potential pollution, and
industrial development nearby is booming as many big companies and their docks
are being moved there to take advantage of the convenient water
transport.
Jin zhongxian, another delegate to the local committee of the
CPPCC, suggested that the drainage systems of factories along the banks should
undergo a thorough check and renovation to prevent them discharging sewage
directly into the river.
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