The water authorities and waterworks organizations in Beijing launched various campaigns on March 22 to promote water protection and conservation, as Thcursday marked this year's World Water Day and the seven days from March 22 to 28 are the national Water Week.
The water authorities said that Beijing has done well in water conservation and protection in recent years. Water consumption for every 10,000 yuan (US$1579.8) of gross regional domestic product has come down from 20 cubic meters in 2012 to 14.1 cubic meters. A total of 18,000 water-saving communities and villages have been built, saving more than 100 million cubic meters of water on average every year.
To carry out water protection and treatment, Beijing has appointed over 5,900 river chiefs to different sections of watercourses in the city, and people have accumulated rich experiences in protecting waterbodies.
Through the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (which connects the Yangtze River to northern regions), Beijing received 3.221 billion cubic meters of water, of which 2.195 billion cubic meters went to waterworks, 496 million cubic meters went to reservoirs, 167 million cubic meters was used to supply underground water sources, and 363 million cubic meters went to key waterbodies in the city.