Water In China Worse Than Experts Thought

New research shows that China’s water supply may be even more polluted than previously thought.

“More than 80 percent of the water from underground wells used by farms, factories and households across the heavily populated plains of China is unfit for drinking or bathing because of contamination from industry and farming, according to new statistics [that raise] alarm about pollution in the world’s most populous country,” The New York Times reported.

The data from the Chinese Water Resources Ministry is based on sampling at 2,103 underground wells, which supply water for small countryside towns. The report, written in Chinese, is available here.

“The ministry said that of those samples, 32.9% were classed as suitable only for industrial and agricultural use, while 47.3% were unfit for human consumption of any type. None were considered pristine, although water in wells in the Beijing area was rated better overall than elsewhere in the northeast,” The Guardian reported.

Dabo Guan, a professor at the University of East Anglia in Britain, weighed in, per The New York Times: “From my point of view, this shows how water is the biggest environmental issue in China. People in the cities, they see air pollution every day, so it creates huge pressure from the public. But in the cities, people don’t see how bad the water pollution is. They don’t have the same sense.”

Chinese officials tried to reassure the public that most water used by city residents is safe because it comes from reservoirs.

“The quality of drinking water is good overall,” Chen Mingzhong, director of the ministry’s Department of Water Resources, per The Guardian.

The poor state of water in China is paving the way for growth in the treatment market there. “In terms of value, the U.S. and China together accounted for more than 70 percent of the global [water treatment chemicals] market, in 2014,” according to a market research report published by MarketsandMarkets. “China is the largest market and manufacturer in the Asia-Pacific region.”

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