30 July - 5 August 2012 - orsam

China’s Hebei Province Says Its Water Quality Beats National Average
China, SHIJIAZHUANG — Cities in China‘s northern Hebei province have better quality drinking
water supply than most of the rest of the country, a provincial water official claimed last week.
―According to the new national standard, the pass rate of the finished water of Shijiazhuang city is
more than 99 percent,‖ said Chang Ching, an official at the national water quality monitoring
network station in the provincial capital, Shijiazhuang.
―It is higher than that of the national standard that is 95 percent,‖ Chang added.
The factor holding Hebei back from a 100 percent water quality rating is its natural hardness, Chang
explained.
―It is caused by the hydrogeological environment of Shijiazhuang city,‖ but ―will not cause major
harmful problems to the humans,‖ she added.
Seventy percent of Shijiazhuang‘s supply comes from surface water sources including the Gangnan
and Huangbizhuang reservoirs. The other 30 percent comes from groundwater.
However, Chang noted that the high-quality treated water had to pass from the treatment plants into
the water distribution network and from there to people‘s taps. She said she could not assess its
quality by the time it got to the end user.
The secretary general of the water supply association in province that the specific figure on tap water
quality was ―confidential.‖
However, he said that based on testing results from last year, the water quality again is better than the
national average.
Last month, To Ying, deputy director of the national development and reform commission, issued a
report to the NPC Standing Committee on the safety of drinking water. He found water quality in
Shijiazhuang to be higher than 79.6 percent.
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