The News Review:

- Beneath booming cities, China’s future is drying up
- Water conservancy stressed amid severe drought
- Recycled water isn’t easy answer to drought

Beneath booming cities, China’s future is drying up
International Herald Tribune – Dec 14, 2007
Industry in China uses 3 to 10 times more water, depending on the product, than industries in developed nations. “We have to now focus on conservation,” said Ma Jun, a prominent environmentalist. “We don't have much extra water resources. We have the same resources and much bigger pressures from growth. ” In the past, the Communist Party has reflexively turned to engineering projects to address water problems, and now it is reaching back to one of Mao's unrealized plans: the $62 billion South-to-North Water Transfer Project to funnel more than 12 trillion gallons northward every year along three routes from the Yangtze River basin, where water is more abundant. The project, if fully built, would be completed in 2050. The eastern and central lines are already under construction; the western line, the most disputed because of environmental concerns, remains in the planning stages.

Water conservancy stressed amid severe drought
chinadaily.com.cn – Dec 14, 2007
They also needed to build sufficient water resources to tackle drought, a circular released by the State Council said. In recent times, drought has been striking more areas of the country with greater frequency. It had extended from the north and western regions to the south and eastern areas, worsening water supply conditions for both agriculture and industry. It was estimated that the country’s water demand was likely to approach the water resources available by 2030 provided that sufficient water-saving efforts were undertaken, the circular said. More than half of China’s farmland lacked irrigation equipment and a majority of the existing equipment was obsolete or insufficient to the task. The Ministry of Finance said earlier this month that it would allocate 70 million yuan (9. 46 million US dollars) to support relief programs in the worst drought-stricken provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and Guizhou and in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Recycled water isn’t easy answer to drought
News & Observer – Dec 14, 2007
comp –> Matthew Eisley, Staff WriterComment on this story Q: Has anyone suggested taking the treated sewer water, piping it back to the filtration plant, cleaning it up, and putting it back into the water system to use again? Instead of dumping 40 million gallons of treated water into the Neuse River each day, we could significantly reduce the need from Falls Lake by recycling the same water day after day. Dan HarrodRaleighA: Recycling treated sewage is a future possibility, said Dale Crisp, Raleigh’s public utilities director. But the expense would be large because the city’s water purification plant near Falls Lake is many miles from its sewage treatment plant downstream on the Neuse River. There is also the likely public-relations challenge of overcoming many people’s discomfort with the idea of drinking effluent. But in a way, it is already being done. Durham, Butner and other communities discharge treated sewage into creeks that flow into Falls Lake, Raleigh’s drinking water supply. And Raleigh sends treated sewage downstream to Clayton, Smithfield, Goldsboro, Kinston and beyond…
“To some degree, you end up chasing your tail,” Crisp said. “We firmly believe re-use water has its place. It will extend Raleigh’s water supplies in the future and is a big part of our planning and work effort. But direct water re-use internal only to the Raleigh water-sewer system is not the total solution to drought problems. ” All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner.