Society

Tap water pipeline bursts in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-14 13:44

GUIYANG - A tap water pipeline in downtown Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province, burst Wednesday, flooding streets and cutting off supplies for more than 1,000 households, local authorities said.

The pipeline, 500 mm in diameter on Beijing Road in central Guiyang, burst at 5:20 am and at least 1,000 cubic meters of water flooded the streets, the city's tap water company said in a press release.

It said water supplies were cut off for more than 1,000 families in the area and were expected to resume at around 8 pm.

A similar incident happened Tuesday morning on the Southern Zhonghua Road in downtown Guizhou, cutting off water supplies to the nearby community for several hours, it said.

The tap water company blamed both incidents on continuous rainfall and a lack of maintenance of the decades-old pipeline.

Rainstorm and subsequent disasters are wreaking havoc in nearly half of China this week, leaving more than 100 people dead and dozens missing.