Asian Development Bank Finds "Alarming" Levels Of Water Pollution In China - AFP

Water pollution may have reached alarming levels in China, after three decades of industrialisation that lifted nearly half a billion people out of poverty, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday. The Philippines-based lender said it is giving Beijing a 500,000-dollar grant to help the Asian giant design a system to manage water pollution that the bank said "may have already reached an alarming level across the country."

Aid would help Beijing reduce the "chemical oxygen demand discharge" by 10 percent from 2005 levels. The term measures the discharge of water pollutants, mostly by industrial manufacturers.

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"Despite government efforts and investment, the country has yet to arrest these problems," said ADB social sector economist Yue Fei. Water pollution has emerged as the most pressing concern due to frequent such outbreaks in nearly all the water systems across the country, the bank said.

A large number of wastewater treatment facilities are operating at less than 30 percent of capacity, while some newly built ones have remained idle, it added.

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