As a new water plant in Pingtan county is almost ready for operation, the authority finds another hurdle ahead - where is the water source?

A glimpse of a new water plant in Beilou Mountain in Pingtan, Fujian province, March 4. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

“It has all conditions for a trial operation, yet the biggest problem is that we don’t have water,” said Chen Ning, an engineer at the plant.

He went on to explain that currently the urban residents in Pingtan consume about 65,000 tons of processed water from Sanshiliujiao Lake on the island, which is barely enough.

“The plant is planned to pump water from the lake, too. We’ve finished laying the pipes, but the water pump facilities haven’t been ready. And authorities are still discussing details of the water transfer plan,” he said.

The construction of the water plant, which is situated in Beilou Mountain taking up an area of 166 mu (11 hectares), kicked off two years ago with an investment of 290 million yuan. It will be capable of providing 100,000 tons of water of higher quality per day for the first phase, and ultimately 300,000 tons in the future to meet growing demand.