The first phase of the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has been operational for more than two years. The quality of the water from the south has maintained a ranking higher than Class II, according to China's surface water quality standard, and Beijing has received more than 2.6 billion cubic meters of water, directly benefiting over 11 million people in the city.
According to the Beijing municipal government, 1.8 billion cubic meters of water from the south -- or 70 percent of the total amount -- is used for the city's tap water; 630 million cubic meters is stored in Beijing's large and medium-sized reservoirs and underground emergency water sources, among which 320 million cubic meters is stored in the Miyun reservoir; 22.4 million cubic meters is used for water supply of rivers and lakes in place of the Miyun reservoir.
So far, up to eight water plants in Beijing have received water from the south. The daily water supply has risen to over 3 million cubic meters, covering the downtown districts, the Hexi region of Fengtai District, Daxing District, Mentougou District, and parts of Changping District and Tongzhou District. As the city has been supplemented by water from the south, Beijing has shut down over 160 self-drilled wells in the urban area over the past two years, and nearly 700,000 residents switched to municipal tap water.
According to the Beijing south-to-north water diversion office, one out of three glasses of water in the city came from the Miyun reservoir in the past; but now, with the water from the south, the outflow from the Miyun reservoir has reduced by nearly 1 billion cubic meters in two years. In 2016, the aggregate water supply of the Miyun reservoir was only 60million cubic meters.
In addition, to guarantee water security in Tongzhou District -- Beijing's subsidiary administrative center -- and in the city's efforts relocating entities non-essential to capital function, the first-phase project of the Tongzhou water plant, a supporting one of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, was also recently commissioned in order to alleviate water shortage in Tongzhou District. The water diversion projects in the Hexi region and Daxing District have also kicked off, which would help to meet the demand for water in western Beijing and the neighborhood of Beijing's new airport in the future.
In the past two years, Beijing has overcome various obstacles and addressed multiple emergency situations in its water diversion works. In the year 2015-16, Beijing received 11 billion cubic meters of water, 5 percent more than the previously projected quantity of 10.5 billion cubic meters.