45-year-old Zhang Yumei has been using used water to flush her toilet and shower her flowers as the city she lives began Wednesday a four-day cutoff of water for fear of contamination from a chemical plant blast.

"I've been wasteful in using water in the past and always spilt a basin of water after washing face," she said.

"But now, all of my family members are aware of saving water and we collect the water that has been used to wash our faces, and rice and vegetable, and for other things, like flushing the toilet or watering flowers," she said.

China is short of water resources, with its per capita water resources only accounting for a quarter of the world average, statistics with the Ministry of Water Resources show.

The suspension of the water supply to Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province and a freezing northeast Chinese city of 3.8 million people where Zhang is living, has taught a vivid lesson to the sometimes extravagant citizens that water conservation is vital.

Harbin is located at the middle reaches of the 1,897-km-long Songhua River, which supplies most of the water to the populous city.

The municipal government announced in two separate statements on Monday and Tuesday that the city's water supply system would be shut down for about four days as of early Wednesday, after chemical plant blast on November 13 spilled toxic benzene into the Songhua river.

The blast occurred in a workshop, where highly flammable gas benzene was being processed, of the No. 101 Chemical Plant of Jilin Petrochemical Company based in the city of Jilin, only a few hundred meters from the Songhua River, in Jilin Province that borders Heilongjiang.

The blast left five persons dead, one missing and more than 60 injured and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 residents.

The normal water consumption in Harbin for residential use is estimated at 700,000 tons a day, said Liu Yuzhu, a senior executive manager of the Harbin Water Supply and Drainage Group. Co. Ltd., saying that a sizeable proportion of the water supply was consumed by commercial service sectors such as car washing and bathing, which have been temporarily closed on orders of the government.

Water for household use has been placed as priority by the government, said Liu, adding that Harbin citizens have collected over 300,000 tons of water by Tuesday, which is expected to hold for three days.

Despite inconveniences caused by the water stoppage, Jia Hui in Harbin found a pleasant change in his family: his 10-year-old daughter Jia Yuyan who is a primary school student has learned to cherish water.

The little girl "designated" an exclusive bucket for saving "waste water" or "used water" in the family, Jia said. In addition, the girl "supervised" her parents every day to use water frugally.

"We'll keep the practice after the city resumes water supply a few days later," Jia said.

All primary and middle schools in the city have been ordered to suspend classes through November 30 for fear that catering and sanitation can not be secured due to the water cutoff.

Zhao Jiahui, vice headmaster of the Harbin Engineering Primary School, said the water cutoff has taught a most impressive lesson to youngsters.

"The kids were always told in the past that water resources are limited, but they still found it difficult to understand. Now, they know that water is precious when they use each drop of water, " Zhang said.

The issue has also helped enhance the awareness of environmental protection among the Chinese public.

"I, for the first time, felt the crisis of survival during the incident of water pollution and cutoff," said Guo Xinmiao who works at a computer company in Harbin.

In China, about 70 percent of lakes and rivers have been polluted, said Chen Bangzhu, chairman of Subcommittee of Population, Resources and Environment of the National Committee of CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), the country's top advisory body.

Statistics show that approximately 4.2 trillion cubic meters of sewage is released into lakes, rivers and seas around the globe each year, contaminating 5.5 trillion cubic meters of fresh water, equaling more than 14 percent of the total volume of runoff on the earth.

"If human kind pays no attention to environmental protection and makes the ecological environment more and more deteriorated, then such incidents like that in Harbin would occur more and more, " said Harbin's Guo.

The Chinese public also learned to render more help, care and love to each other through the unexpected water cutoff incident.

90-year-old Li Rixian who lives alone in the Daoli District of Harbin received drinking water regularly during the stoppage period from volunteers organized by the government.

"I feel nothing to worry about," Lin said.

Fu Zhijun, an official in the charge of the Daoli District, pledged ensuring household water and a normal life for all residents in the district, especially for the poor.

The Xingya Hotel in the city has been attracting steams of nearby citizens seeking water over the past few days.

After the city suspended its water supply, the hotel opened a deep groundwater well of its own to the public and offered safe water free of charge.

"Although our free supply of water can't solve the problem completely, we hope our move can drive other businesses or individuals into the campaign to help each other and pass the difficult time," said Wang Chunmao, general manager of the hotel.

Source: Xinhua