Seriously polluted waterways decreased more than 7 percent as of the end of last year after years of cleanup projects, the Shanghai Water Authority announced yesterday.

The authority also conducted a spot check on tap water yesterday in response to concerns about quality. No problems were found.

Chen Guoguang, vice director of the local branch of the state Water Quality Monitoring Network, said it might not taste good, but tap water is definitely safe to drink.

Despite the improvement, bodies of water in the city have a long way to go before they are pollution free. More than 40 percent of all waterways in the city are still seriously polluted.

"The water environment downtown has greatly improved after three years of improvement," said the authority in a statement.

"The major pollution index has dropped by more than 20 percent within the Outer Ring Road."

The city rolled out an environmental protection plan on a three-year basis starting in 2000. Between 2003 and 2005, water improvement was at the top of its work list.

The assessment covers a total of 612.9 kilometers of 16 waterways in the city. The length of good waterways that can be used for tap water treatment increased 0.9 percent and accounts for 14 percent of the total length.

Samples from a water plant, water distribution network and residential area all met state drinking water standards.

The water from the city's 130-year-old Yangshupu Water Plant in Yangpu District was tested to be far below the level of allowable impurities, including the nephelometry turbidity unit, or NTU at 0.2.

The maximum amount is 1.

The NTU index increased to 0.33 at a residential area on Kunming Road in the city's northeast, but was still within the normal range, officials said yesterday.

(Shanghai Daily March 22, 2006)