The ​Message to ​Water Polluters in China is ​Crystal Clear ​

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The ​Message to ​Water Polluters in China is ​Crystal Clear ​

As China comes clean on water quality, the message to polluters is crystal clear.

By Bao Hang

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Image source: Max Pixel

The Ministry of Environmental Protection released information about the state of China’s water quality. The results were a mixed bag, with 70 per cent of water samples deemed fit for human use, and overall water quality seen as getting better, though slowly.

However, Inner Mongolia and Hebei, provinces noted for their poor water quality, saw standards continue to slide. Moreover, a number of provinces with good water quality were rated as taking a turn for the worse.

What was most impressive about the data release, however, was the release itself. This is the first time that the ministry has made all data about water quality from measuring points across the country publicly available.

While most attention tends to be focused on China’s toxic air pollution, the seriousness of its water pollution crisis should not be underestimated. A recent study by Greenpeace East Asia found that, as of 2015, more than 85 per cent of Shanghai’s river water was unusable as a drinking water source, and 66 per cent of Tianjin’s surface water was unusable for any purpose at all. Ministry data released last year corroborated this, showing, for example, that 60 per cent of the country’s groundwater was unfit for human contact.

In light of the severity of the problem, therefore, the newly revised law falls short on a number of counts.

Fines, though doubled in some instances, will remain a mere slap on the wrist for large companies. In addition, the fines often amount to only a fraction of environmental remediation costs – the price of soil and groundwater restoration can be astronomical.

Problems remain, also, in terms of cross-boundary cooperation. Each province is responsible for setting and meeting its own targets. But rivers, of course, run across boundaries, meaning that mediocre targets or lax implementation of standards upstream will affect water quality downstream.

Read full article: South China Morning Post

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