Shanghai will have 1,000 water-saving neighborhoods by the end of this year, working to save water by using rain-collecting systems, water-reuse technologies and new toilet tanks, among other things.

As part of the effort, the city will offer residents 12,000 water-miser toilet tank sets to replace their old ones, free of charge, water authority officials said.

The officials spoke at the opening of water-saving promotion week.

"Shanghai is still facing water shortages due to poor water quality, and the source problem of water pollution has not yet been solved," said Ruan Renliang, deputy general engineering of Shanghai Municipal Water Authority.

The city has set a long-term goal to reduce, by 2015, about 6 percent of the water needed to produce every 10,000 yuan (US$1,462) of gross domestic product.

That volume would drop to 79 cubic meters of water from last year's 84.

Officials hope to increase the reuse rate of industrial water from the existing 82.1 percent to 82.4.