Athletes and visitors to the Beijing Olympics' central area will
be able to access safe drinking water straight from the tap,
instead of having to rely on bottled supplies, Bi Xiaogang, the
vice-director of the Beijing Water Authority, has promised.
"Facilities to provide safe drinking water within a 2.91- sq-km
area, encompassing the Bird's Nest and the Olympic Green, will be
completed in the first half of next year," Bi said at a press
conference yesterday.
In addition, the department is working to renovate and upgrade
its 2,000-plus water supply facilities across the city to provide
safe tap water for all Beijing residents.
"There is nothing wrong with the water coming out of the
plants," Bi said.
"It is the distance it has to travel through old pipes to get to
people's homes that affects the quality."
Bi said that in recent years, progress had been made to clean up
rivers and lakes in the city so that the Games' organizers can
ensure "an ecological water environment for a green, hi-tech and
people's Olympics".
Within the sixth ring road there are 52 rivers with a total
length of 520 km.
"By the end of the year all 52 rivers will have been cleaned, so
that we can say our rivers have crystal clear water, green banks
and can even be used for sailing," Bi said.
This year, Beijing will complete the construction of five major
wastewater treatment plants, taking the total number of large-scale
plants to 14.
A further 14 medium-sized plants in suburban areas have already
been built and the construction of 216 small-scale plants will
commence soon.
At the end of last year the country's wastewater treatment rate
had reached 70 percent, with 962 million cubic m of water being
safely treated. In downtown Beijing, the rate was 90 percent, with
780 million cubic m of water treated.
Beijing has adopted biological measures in its water
purification efforts, including the use of organisms such as fry,
spiral shells, mussels and clams to clean rivers.
"We have harnessed nearly 100 km of 10 rivers by applying such
bio-concepts in recent years," Bi said.
This city has vowed to improve water quality still further this
year.
(China Daily May 10, 2007)
