Editorials

A water-wasting nation

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-23 07:51

The announcement by the Beijing municipal government to charge accumulative water prices on a trial basis is an active response to Monday's World Water Day. The worst drought in a century in the southwestern region of China underlies the importance of the international event to raise awareness for water conservation.

More than 200 days without a drop of rain have made millions of people desperate to get drinking water in drought-ravaged provinces. In North China, although there has been much more snowfall this past winter than in previous years, saving water is still a great concern for the local government and the people.

An investigation of 200 residential communities by Beijing News last week shows that only 20 percent of them are using treated water to flush their toilets. If residents are allowed to flush toilets with treated water, 30-40 percent in water can be saved.

But the investigation reveals that most resident buildings still use fresh water instead of treated water in their toilets although they have separate treated-water pipelines. This is because the cost to treat sewage is higher than the stipulated price for its use. Property management companies do not want to lose money by providing treated water. In addition, the quality of treated water is not a guarantee due to poor management.

The drought in the southwest should be an alarm for governments at all levels to waste no time in their efforts to save water. Large cities such as Beijing should do a better job in the use of treated water. And there should be enough transparency of water prices and expenditures on water so that the money charged from residents can be effectively used to facilitate projects to save water. We cannot afford to wait until it is too late.

(China Daily 03/23/2010 page8)