White Papers
A serious water shortage will lie ahead of the country beginning from 2010, according to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. The water drinking crisis is so severe that Shanghai has been added to the United Nations' list as one of the six cities predicted to experience severe drinking-water problems in this century.
Water affairs expert Zhang Jiacheng notes that "What Shanghai lacks is quality water suitable for both drinking and industrial production." Shanghai abounds with water resources but its usable fresh water is very limited. The total amount of fresh water stands at 11.88 billion cubic meters which is only 20 percent of the city's surface water. Shanghai's per capita water availability is 1,049 cubic meters, 40 percent of the country's average and 10 percent of the world's average.
This is due to "Pollution [that] either occurs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, or is caused by local plants," said Zhang Jiayi, director of Shanghai Water Affairs Bureau.
The Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze flowing through Shanghai, has supplied 80 percent of drinkable water for the local residents. However the river water quality has been seriously affected by industrial wastes, pointed out Zhang Jiatuan, a senior engineer of the Ministry of Water Resources.
The neighboring Taihu Lake affects water quality in the Huangpu due to the discharge of domestic and industrial sewage into its waters. The resulting high content of phosphorus in the lake has led to the occurrence of potentially toxic blue-green alga over large areas, bringing severe drinking-water problems to the region, including Shanghai's water sources.
So although Shanghai's waterworks takes water mostly from the Huangpu River it has been proposed that water be drawn from the Yangtze instead as it has better-quality water.
Currently, the city is considering different ways to tackle the water shortage crisis, including desalination of sea water, full exploitation of rain water, and rational use of groundwater resources. But the current situation remains troubling.So given that Shanghai water quality is in doubt leaving the government scrambling to supply adequate supplies how are residents to ensure that they have good drinking water for themselves and family?
Many people do this by buying bottled water from the supermarket, or boiling tap water and cooling it in the fridge. But how safe is this really, and how environmentally friendly? Bottled water is wasteful of other resources and the quality of the bottled water can not be guaranteed.
To ensure that users have a quality water supply Life Solutions recommends that Shanghai residents take matters into their own hands. First by conserving water use within their homes so there is more water for all, and then by using a reverse osmosis filtration system to ensure quality drinking water within the home.
<< Go to White Papers home