Water contamination a greater threat than air pollution in China

New research suggests that over 80% of water from underground wells on China’s heavily-populated plains is contaminated by run-off from farms and factories and is unfit for drinking or bathing. Among the contaminants identified were manganese, fluoride, triazoles and heavy metals. The safety of China’s water has often been overlooked due to a focus on air pollution. Professor Dabo Guan of the University of East Anglia states that the new data, “shows how water is the biggest environmental issue in China."  While most Chinese cities draw water from deep reservoirs, which were not studied in the latest research, many people in the countryside still rely on shallower wells. 

BEIJING — 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 were reported by Chinese media on Monday, raising new alarm about pollution in the world’s most populous country.

After years of focus on China’s hazy skies as a measure of environmental blight, the new data from 2,103 underground wells struck a nerve among Chinese citizens who have become increasingly sensitive about health threats from pollution. Most Chinese cities draw on deep reservoirs that were not part of this study, but many villages and small towns in the countryside depend on the shallower wells of the kind that were tested for the report.

“From my point of view, this shows how water is the biggest environmental issue in China,” said Dabo Guan, a professor at the University of East Anglia in Britain who has been studying water pollution and scarcity in China.