China drinking water: China’s water supply problems are well-known globally. However, the main problem facing China is how to distribute its water, rather than lack of water per se. 80% of China’s water supply lies in southern China. But this water cannot be used by the population of 12 Chinese provinces representing 41% of its total population, 38% of Chinese agriculture, 46% of its industry, and 50% of its power generation. Eight of these provinces are currently experiencing acute water scarcity, while in four provinces water is merely “scarce,” and two provinces are largely desert. Moreover, the problem is getting worse, with 28,000 rivers in China having dried up over the past 25 years. And China’s appetite for water continues to grow, with consumption forecast to rise to 670 billion cubic meters a year by the early 2020s.
Adding to the problem is the fact that coal mining is a water-intensive as well as polluting process, and 85% of coal reserves in China are located in provinces where water is scarce and must be shared with a large agriculture industry. Reportedly 20% of all water use in China is for mining, processing, or consumption of coal, and almost 70% is for agricultural purposes. Rapid growth in water demand, combined with a reliance on groundwater drawn from aquifers, has resulted in a new problem — subsidence. This poses a threat to over 50 cities in China and is being closely monitored by the government.
Urbanisation has posed an enormous issue for the rapidly growing middle class society. The large numbers of people who are moving to the cities for employment opportunities, now have higher expectations and water quality is integral to that lifestyle. Many cities throughout China are utilising rapid sand filters in their Municipal Water Treatment Plants.
DMI-65 can easily be used in these filters, in order to remove heavy metals from the ground water supply and dramatically improve the quality of drinking water for local communities.
Under Xi Jinping’s administration, Beijing, Tianjin, and the surrounding province of Hebei have developed significantly. However, the 112 million people living there manage with less than the per capita annual water consumption of Saudi Arabia. In 2016, the mayor of Beijing announced that primarily due to scarcity of water, the population of the city could not rise above 23 million people. In 2016, the Gansu province faced severe problems and residents only had access to water for one hour a day, and then had to transport the water into their high-rise flats
The government announced in 2015 that it would invest CNY800 billion (US$127 billion) into improving irrigation through water conservation projects, many of which were focused on improving irrigation. The government also reportedly plans to invest more than CNY6 trillion over the next few years improving China’s water infrastructure and decreasing water pollution.
China’s plans to address water pollution are included in the 13th Five Year Plan, which contains the government’s strategy to counter this problem, as does the 2013 Water allocation Plan for the Development of Coal Bases and the 2015 10-Point Water Plan. The 10-Point Water Plan focuses on promoting recycling and decreasing pollution levels to increase the supply of water. The 13th Five Year Plan sets out targets and stipulates which ministry would be responsible for implementing each part of the plan.