Water diversion project to promote balanced development
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E-mail Xinhua, December 19, 2012
Yan Peihong, a resident of Cangzhou, a northern city known for its aridness, has been paying close attention to the construction of China's south-north water diversion project.
Drinking water in parts of Cangzhou in Hebei Province is labeled "bitter-salty" for its bad taste. Some local residents have been suffering from dental fluorosis because water supplies there contain excessive fluoride.
The water heater Yan bought two years ago is losing its effect, for the inside of the tank is coated with two centimeters of limescale.
"Hopefully, the water diverted from the Yangtze River will help change this situation," he says.
Yan's dream is coming true, as the construction of the main part of the eastern route of the south-north water diversion project that covers Cangzhou is set to be completed this month.
The south-north project, the world's largest of its kind, is designed to take water from China's longest river, the Yangtze, through an eastern, a middle and a western route to feed arid areas in the north, including Beijing.
The project started with the construction of the eastern route in 2002, and the route is expected to come into service next year. With construction of the middle route having begun in 2003, it is expected to start supplying water in 2014.
The major projects of the eastern route are located in the provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong. Statistics from the construction departments of the two provinces show that there should be no problem in finishing the main work on the route within December.
By the end of November, investment in the Shandong part of the project had reached 20.867 billion yuan (3.347 billion U. S. dollars), which is over 95 percent of the total investment, says Sun Yifu, deputy water resources chief in Shandong Province.
Correspondingly, investment in the Jiangsu section reached 11.2 billion yuan, making up 92 percent of the approved total investment, according to Lu Zhenlin, director of Jiangsu's water resources department.
Progress has also been witnessed in work to improve the water quality on the eastern route. More than 400 pollution control projects in the two provinces have been completed and the water quality along the route has met targeted levels.
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