"Tap water at my home has stopped flowing for one month and I have to fetch water from my neighbor on the first floor every evening," said Wei Weiguo, a resident in Dongxiang county of east China's Jiangxi Province.
Wei lives on the fourth floor of a residential building of the county seat, where water has become a top concern for 100,000 local residents due to a severe drought plaguing the area.
Residents in Dongxiang are supplied with water only at 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Those who live on the fourth floor or higher have had to use buckets to fetch water from the first floor for more than 30 days.
One of the only two reservoirs on which the county residents rely has stopped supplying water. One water factory for the county seat has stopped operation.
"The Foling reservoir has only 400,000 cubic meters of water left, less than one tenth of its normal storage volume," said Li Xiangrong, deputy general manger of Dongxiang County Tap Water Company. "The water quality also becomes so bad that it is no longer usable."
The other one, Xingfu reservoir, now has 3.8 million cubic meters of water for use, only 15 percent of its normal storage.
"The water level of Xingfu reservoir is currently three meters below the water-taking pipes," said Li. "We must use pumps to get water from it."
Across Jiangxi, about 300,000 urban residents and rural people 100,000 are facing severe water shortages, according to the provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Water for industrial use in Dongxiang and Le'an counties has almost been cut off to ensure domestic use of residents, local governments said.
Drinking water shortage is also affecting about 83,000 people and 40,000 head of livestock in neighboring Hunan Province.
In the past 80 days since mid-September, the province only had an average rainfall of 49.3 millimeters and in some counties it was even less than 10 millimeters, according to the Hunan provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
"This year, Hunan suffered drought both in summer and autumn," said Xiao Kuntao, an official with the headquarters. "The sustained drought has caused all-time lows in the water level of the Xiangjiang River." Xiangjiang is a major river in the province.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said Friday that 20.44 million urbanites, 27.56 million rural people and 20.6 million heads of livestock suffered limited supply of drinking water across the country.
Source: Xinhua
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