The technology was jointly developed by the Haifa Group in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, and the University of Agriculture in east China's Shandong Province.

Over the month-long trial period in Funan River in Chengdu, it has proven to be very effective, and its use will thus be expanded to larger areas of the river.

The technology, named "CMF technology" by Chinese scientists, consists mainly of a highly effective microbial thallus compound and oxygenating agents.

The Haifa Group has developed 80 kinds of solid microbes, and environmentalists will decide how many or what kinds of microbes should be used in accordance with the ratio of organic or inorganic substances in the water, Group Chairman Jiang Tao said.

When the microbial compound is injected into the water, the microbe activates within 30 minutes and duplicates in number every 15 minutes. Given that a gram of microbial compound contains between six and eight billion microbes, the organic substances are quickly eliminated. Upon completion of the process, which generates no pollution or waste products, the water is left clean, Jiang said.

The initial investment for the treatment per square meter is 102 yuan (US$12.4), and the treatment is effective for a period of 20 years with no reinvestment, Jiang added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2003)