Beijing has long had a chronic water shortage, and as the city expands, the problem is getting worse. Rising levels of pollution have also made already scarce water supplies unusable in some areas. The city recently launched a campagin to clean up its water, and CCTV reporter Ai Yang finds out whether the pace is fast enough.

This stream, flowing through Beijing is typical of the rivers that traverse the capital. Despite daily maintenance, the city's rapid population growth has left its marks visibly. A one-hundred-day campaign was recently launched to clean some 200 kilometers of streams flowing through the capital.

Zhang Shiqing, Director, Beijing Water Supplies Bureau, said, "The campaign has sped up river pollution clearing but the city needs to upgrade its sewage and waste treatment infrastructure. Take Qinghe outside Beijing's fifth ring road for example, its population has more than tripled to 3 million in just five years, but its sewage infrastructure lacks the capacity to dispose of all the waste and some of it overflows into nearby rivers."

Since the 100-day campaign was launched in August, the municipal government has so far spent more than 250 million yuan. Some initial results such as clearing sewage pipes and preventing waste dumping have been successful. But the city's lack of water resources on the whole has made the pollution issue a prominent and chronic one.

Zhang Shiqing, Director, Beijing Water Supplies Bureau, said, "Beijing's five major river systems barely have any fresh water coming in and they don't circulate well. In fact more than half of the rivers fail the water quality test and some may further pollute the surface and underground water."

Authorities say drinking water in the capital on the other hand has so far been kept above standard, although upstream human activity near the reservoir has increased.

Liang Yong, Miyun Reservoir Management Department, said, "We regularly check the reservoir's water quality and the results have been above standard and stable because the volume is large compared to nearby human influences. But a rising population poses the biggest challenge for us."

While some rivers in the city have been cleaned up by the campaign, more action still needs to be done.

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