Four large waste water treatment plants have been put into operation recently in Anhui Province, east China, along the Huaihe River and Chaohu Lake, two of the country's most polluted bodies of water.

Environmental officials with the provincial government said the four plants in Hefei, Huaibei, Huainan and Suzhou cities have a combined capacity of handling 410,000 cubic meters of waste water per day.

The four plants, together with 12 others currently under construction in the valleys of the river and the lake, are part of a national environmental protection program designed to clean up the country's six most polluted rivers and lakes.

With a total investment of nearly 2 billion yuan (US$243 million), the 12 plants have been designed with a combined capacity to treat 900,000 cubic meters of waste water per day.

The projects are partially financed through loans totaling about US$100 million from the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and overseas governments.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2002)