Shorter showers urged as long-term water solution planned

Irene Kan sighs with relief when she reads the "green" classification for the salinity of Macao's drinking water. The 25-year-old office clerk in Macao checks tap water salinity levels on the Macao government website every day.

Speaking like an expert, Kan said: "The salinity level yesterday was 112 mg per liter. The site forecast 95 mg/liter today. It's well below 250 mg/l, the standard level for safe drinking water, as defined by the World Health Organization.

With little freshwater of its own, Macao, set on the west side of the Pearl River Delta and bordering Zhuhai in Guangdong to the north, depends on the mainland for about 90 percent of its drinking water.