Efforts to ensure the safety of drinking water in the Liujiang River in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region continue, after excessive amounts of the toxic metal cadmium were detected downstream on Thursday. This comes nearly two weeks after industrial waste from a local mining company polluted a tributary upstream.

Armed police dump bags of alkali into water to dissolve the contamination at the Nuomitan waterpower plant in Liucheng county of Liuzhou city, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Jan 27, 2012. [Xinhua]

Emergency measures have been launched to stop further cadmium pollution. Sluices at four upstream hydrological stations on the Longjiang River have been opened, aimed at diluting the pollutants. Over 1500 experts and police have been called on to dump neutralizers 24 hours a day.

Huanghe, vice director of Bureau of Environmental Protection, Hechi City, said, "Six tons of lime powder, and three tons of poly-aluminium chloride are being added hourly. Those neutralizers are not harmful to human health. Eleven tons of activated carbon can stave off 70% of the cadmium pollutants."

Panic buying of bottled water has been triggered in Liuzhou, a city with over 3-million people downstream the Liujiang River.

But the latest monitoring data, showed that the water quality in the city is up to national standards, and the local authority has moved to ensure that the prices for bottled water remains stable.

Efforts to find an alternative water source is also underway, fearing the pollution may spread further.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Guangdong province has strengthened the monitoring of water flowing from Liujiang River.

Lin Yanchun, director of Pollutant Source Test Division, Guangdong Province, said, "We have step up the monitoring in the water in Guangdong province, latest data showed no signs of excessive metal pollution."

A mining company has been held accountable for the incident, but it was not clear how long the company had been discharging the chemical into the river.