Guangzhou ready for water suspension

Zhang Liuhao

2005-12-22 Via Shanghai Daily

GUANGZHOU has got ready for a possible water supply suspension, under a threat of a contaminated flow by cadmium in the Beijiang River, the Beijing News said today. Guangzhou's waterworks have increased the reserve of their pools and reservoirs to extend water supply, if they are ordered to halt production. The provincial capital city government also prepared some notices to inform its more than 10 million residents, if the likely water supply cut comes true, the newspaper said. The toxic slick of cadmium was blamed on the excessive waste discharges from a smeltery in Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province. Yingde City, which is about 90 kilometers south of Shaoguan, has begun to build a 1.4-kilometer pipeline that connects to a reservoir to receive fresh water directly from it. The slick arrived in Yingde on Tuesday. The Guangdong provincial government has ordered the smeltery to stop operation and shut the waste water outlet, and ordered Guangzhou and Foshan cities to start emergency plans to provide safe drinking water to residents. This incident in south China followed water supply suspension in northeastern Heilongjiang Province last month. A chemical plant exploded in Jilin, polluting the Songhua River and threatening the drinking water safety of the cities along the river, including Harbin