Despite acknowledging that 30 billion tons of sewerage water has been dumped into Yangtze River annually since 2006, a water safety official said the river's water is currently safe to drink.

Every year, about 30 billion tons of sewage and pollutants is piped into the Yangtze River. [File photo]

According to data from Yangtze River Water Resources Protection Bureau, 33.9 billion tons of sewerage discharged into the Yangtze last year – enough to fill the Wuhan East Lake 339 times.

Zang Xiaoping, Vice-director of the Yangtze River Water Resources Protection Bureau, said even though the sewerage discharge increases in volume every year, the rate of increase is slowing down. From 2005 to 2007, the rate was 4 percent. Since then, the government has increased energy saving and reduced emissions in the region, lessening the sewerage discharge in the basin. From 2008, sewerage discharge increased at about 2 percent each year.

Most sewerage drains are along the middle and downstream of Yangtze River, where the economic hubs are located. Zang said waste water management is standardized and is stricter in big cities along the Yangtze River valley. But because of the lack of sewage disposal equipment and effective management, water pollution has become more severe in midsized and small cities along the valley.

Zang said 1 trillion tons of water from Yangtze River goes to sea each year. Therefore, he said although 30 billion tons of sewerage water makes up a pollution zone in the valley, it would not cause serious damages to the water quality. From 2005 to 2009, between 71 and 76 percent of water from the Yangtze is measured at or above the Level-3 standard of the National Surface Water Quality Standards, meaning the water is suitable for drinking. After the government increased effort on waste water management in recent years, up to 86 percent of water from the river is measured at or above the Level-3 standard in 2010. "Water quality in Yangtze River is good, so please feel free to use or drink from it." Zang said.

The Yangtze River flows through 19 provinces, with 170 stations set up to monitor the water quality. "We will monitor the water through the most strict quality standard and make sure the river's water is safe." Zang said.

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