300 million Chinese drink unsafe water , according to their own government

[Thom Little]

About 300 million people living in China's vast countryside drink unsafe water tainted by chemicals and other contaminants, the government said Thursday in its latest acknowledgment of mounting risks from widespread pollution.
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The most common threat to water, after drought, is chemical pollutants and other harmful substances that contaminate drinking supplies for 190 million people, state media quoted E Jingping, a vice minister for water resources, as saying. The report follows recent chemical spills in the northeast and south of the country that temporarily spoiled water supplies for millions of people and highlighted the severity of the pollution crisis.

The problems are not limited to the countryside. About 90 percent of China's cities have polluted ground water, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a recent nationwide survey.

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"The top priority of our drought relief work is to ensure safe drinking water and safeguard people's health," Xinhua quoted E as telling a conference this week in the western city of Chengdu.



http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=434294&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=12/28/2005