THE volume of water supplied to Shenzhen from the Dongjiang River could double to 720 million cubic meters a year with the completion of the second phase of the eastern water supply project Friday.
Work started in 2006 at a cost of 500 million yuan (US$75 million), yesterday s Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
Construction of the first phase started in 1996. The first phase of the project has so far provided about 3.2 billion cubic meters of high-quality water, accounting for one-third of the total water supply in Shenzhen.
The second-phase work included renovations of two pumping stations in the Dongjiang River and Yonghu Lake and the construction of a new 7.68-kilometer pipeline. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the river intake has improved the quality of drinking water in Shenzhen.
There had been little development upstream of the intake and the water there was quite good, a project management official said.
Meanwhile, the water department also installed a monitoring system at the intake to prevent polluted water from reaching Shenzhen.
Although the project will be a big help for the water supply, water shortages are still a serious problem. The water affairs department should speed up the construction of reservoirs in Qinglinjing and Gongming and more measures should be taken to save water resources, Executive Vice Mayor Lu Ruifeng said.
Shenzhen is one of seven cities in China that experience severe water shortages.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
