There are currently no effective measures to address the risks posed by pollution in China due to the fact that most Chinese cities, particularly those in south China, rely on a single water supply source, the Economic Information Daily reported.

City tap water supplies are mainly provided by China's major rivers and reservoirs. River water accounts for nearly 50 percent of the entire supply, while reservoir water and groundwater sources both account for 24 percent.

Wang Hao, the director of China Water Resources and Hydropower Research Institute, commented that substandard water comes chiefly from river and groundwater sources, meaning that almost 80 percent of the Chinese population is affected. According to many industry insiders, many cities in north China use groundwater as the main source of tap water, being envious of the rich water resources in southern cities.

However, many in the south are unaware that the safety of the water supply would be greatly improved by combining both surface and groundwater sources.

Some local governments hold that there would be little benefit in spending large sums of money on the construction of alternative urban water sources as benefits and returns would only be visible in the very long term.