Water cutoff tests Harbin city

Dead fish can be seen in the Songhua River as the State Environment Protection Administration confirmed that pollutants containing benzene and nitrobenzene contaminated the river after a chemical-plant blast at the upper reaches in NE China. (newsphoto)

Millions of residents in the city of Harbin in China's northeast are now in their second day without running water. The local government was forced to cut the water supply after a chemical spill poisoned the Songhua River from which the city gets most of its water.

When the four-day water stoppage was first announced earlier this week stores quickly ran out of bottled water but residents now seem to be coping with having to replace the 1.86 million tons of water they usually use every day.

A grandma says her family has reserved water for daily use and she is not worried as the government is busy handling the problem. A hotel has stored six tons of water, which is enough for three days. A manager of the hotel said their business is still good and has not been affected by the water stoppage.

The No. 2 Hospital affiliated with Harbin Medical University, which gets its water from wells, has started to receive transferred patients from other hospitals. The hospital's president says not only is his health facility water self-sufficient it can also provide 1,000 tons of water to area residents.

Colleges in Harbin city have also taken measures to ensure their water reserves for faculty, students and retirees can last for three days.

Heilongjiang provincial Party secretary: "Four days later, when the water supply resumes, I'll have the first mouthful."

On Wednesday morning Party secretary of Heilongjiang Province, Song Fatang, visited businesses and residents in Harbin, promising to ensure basic water needs will be met.

On Wednesday afternoon, experts told Heilongjiang Provincial Governor, Zhang Zuoji, that 1,400 tons of granular activated carbon would be used to filter the water and ease the threat of poisoning.

Answering residents' questions on water safety the governor says the government will act responsibly and that he will be the first to take a drink of water once the taps are turned on again.

Experts from the central government have also arrived in Harbin and donations of bottled water have been flowing in from other parts of the country and these have been used to restock store shelves.

Harbin residents line up in front of a government water tanker Wednesday. (China Daily photo)

Daily water use of residents guaranteed

Heilongjiang's disease prevention and control center is conducting water quality tests on 386 back-up wells. If this well water is up to standard it will be released for use by residents. Since Tuesday, 55 new wells have been drilled providing 40,000 tons of water to residents.

Water monitoring round the clock

After learning of the pollution in Songhua River, related departments of Heilongjiang Province and Harbin city immediately started an emergency plan.

The provincial government has allocated 10 million yuan to deal with the emergency and the Harbin municipal government will spend five million yuan to set up water supply outlets in residential communities.

Heilongjiang's provincial government ordered all departments to take effective measures to ensure adequate water reserves. The government is monitoring the water quality of Songhua River round-the-clock in order to determine when the chemical pollutants will arrive. The provincial and municipal governments will put spokespersons in place to release accurate information promptly.

This article on the front page of People's Daily Overseas edition, is translated by People's Daily Online