China, Hangzhou: chemical spills taints city’s water supply, schools closed

Two separate pollution incidents have hit the drinking water supply of the Chinese city of Hangzhou (pop. 9 million), Zhejiang Province, in the beginning of June 2011.

In the first incident, the drinking water supply of more than half a million people was cut off when phenol (carbolic acid) spilled into the Xin’an river, creating a run on bottled water. A tanker truck carrying 20 tons of phenol, which had broken down, was hit by another truck as it was being repaired. The crash ruptured the tanker truck’s chemical tank and the leaked phenol was washed by rain into the river, which is one of the sources of Hangzhou’s drinking water.

Authorities temporarily shut down water plants and released extra water from nearby dams to dilute the spill. The concentration of carbolic acid near the accident site remained at more than 900 times the safe drinking level. Despite reassurances that drinking water in Hangzhou itself was safe, residents rushed to buy bottled water, leaving shelves in some supermarkets empty.

China: animal waste a threat to clean water supply

The massive increase of animal waste coming from the livestock industry has become a main source of water pollution in the country, environmental researchers have warned.

One measure China is introducing to reduce the pollution is through the construction of 80 million household methane digesters and 10,000 large-scale biogas plants by 2020.

Citing China’s first national census of pollution sources released in February [2010], Zhang Qingfeng, a leading water resources management expert at the Asian Development Bank, said agriculture is responsible for up to 67 percent of the 423,200 tons of phosphorus discharged and 57 percent of the 4.7 million tons of nitrogen discharged into water.

China: Algae outbreak in major lake threatens drinking water for 300,000

A green algae outbreak has been reported in China’s fifth-largest freshwater lake, threatening the drinking water source for 300,000 residents in an eastern city.

Three to four square km of green algae were found on the east part of Chaohu Lake, the water source for Chaohu city, Su Huimin, chief of Chaohu municipal environment protection bureau, said Thursday [08 July 2010].

“Hot weather and flood discharge from the more polluted western Chaohu

Lake have led to the algae outbreak,” said Su.

Su told Xinhua that the drinking water supply for local residents has not been affected so far, but the green algae was close to the city’s drinking water source.

“We will now test the water quality every two hours, instead of every four hours as before,” said Tang Xiaoxian, director of the local environment monitoring center.

Tang added that local authorities have beefed up monitoring of the green algae and also sent boats to clear it.

Covering an area of 13,000 square km, Chaohu suffers from severe environmental pollution, with lake embankments destroyed and wetland damaged during the urbanization and industrialization drives in the province.

In 2007, an algae outbreak in China’s third-largest freshwater lake, Taihu, cut tap water supplies for more than 1 million people in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province for about 10 days.

Source: Bi Mingxin, Xinhua, 08 Jul 2010

China, Wuhan: ADB supports wastewater and lake management project

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supporting an urban environmental initiative in Wuhan municipality in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that it says could be a model for sustainable management of wastewater sludge in the country.

The ADB has approved a $100 million loan for the Wuhan Urban Environmental Improvement Project that will involve the treatment and disposal of sewage sludge, and the rehabilitation of polluted lakes and water channels, benefiting up to 3 million urban residents in the municipality.

Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province with a population of nearly 9 million people, is successfully treating most of its wastewater through the support of previous ADB assistance. However, the huge amount of sewage sludge generated by the treatment plants – estimated at 657 tons a day – poses growing environmental and health hazards.

The project will incorporate a number of innovative and integrated measures designed to improve the environment and support the government for a more sustainable urban development master plan.

The project will introduce a decentralized approach by building small on-site sludge units integrated with the city master plan. Sludge from Wuhan’s wastewater plants will be dried and treated using biogas from an ADB-financed wastewater facility and steam from a thermal power plant. In addition, the dried sludge will be used as a soil conditioner and filler for building construction materials, supporting the PRC’s push to create sustainable local economies that reduce, reuse and recycle waste. The project will advocate for beneficiary sludge treatment and utilization.

[...]

The project will also help restore Wuhan’s polluted lakes and water channels. Sediment dredging and slope protection work will be carried out, while flood control gates and a water pumping station will also be built. A storm water treatment system will be established for Yangchun Lake, artificial wetlands will be created, and lakes will be planted with aquatic plants.

[...]

Wuhan’s lakes and rivers, which make up 25% of its urban area, have become seriously polluted by agricultural activity and urban construction, with just 38 of 100 lakes in the mid-20th century still in existence.

An environmental public awareness campaign targeted at lakeside businesses, communities and schoolchildren will be carried out, while training and other support will be given for wastewater and sludge treatment operation and maintenance.

ADB’s assistance makes up nearly 20% of the total project cost of about $501.8 million. The Wuhan Municipal Government is providing counterpart funds equivalent to $125.4 million, while the Agricultural Bank of China is supplying a 10-year loan of $276.3 million. The municipal government is the executing agency for the project which is expected to be completed by December 2014.

Source: ADB, 01 Jul 2010

China: country’s first film on water protection premieres

“He Zhang,” China’s first film on the subject of the water supply crisis, premieres on June 5 – World Environment Day – in Beijing, Chinafilm.com reports.

Still from "He Zhang". Photo: CFP

The film is based on events that took place in Wuxi City, located on the banks of the Taihu Lake in east China’s Jiangsu Province, in May 2007. About 2 million residents ran out of safe drinking water after algae took over the polluted waters of the lake.

Chinese actors Ray Lui, also known as Lv Liangwei, and Zhou Xianxin star in the film. Lui plays the boss of a chemical company who illegally dumps polluted water in the lake, and is reported to authorities by his honest father, who’s dying of cancer.

The film’s producers set the premiere for World Environment Day in hopes of evoking concern for environmental protection, especially water protection.

In Chinese, “He Zhang” refers to the local government official in charge of protecting the major rivers in their region. Chinese superstars Li Bingbing, Pu Cunxi and Xu Qin also make appearances in the film.

Source: Han Jingjing, Xinhua, 08 Jun 210

China, Songhua River Basin: ADB providing $146.6 million loan to privatise and improve water supply and wastewater treatment

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing equity and loans of up to $146.6 million to a company planning to improve water supply and wastewater treatment facilities in the polluted Songhua River Basin in the northern part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Tongfang (Harbin) Water Engineering (TWE), an affiliate of publicly listed environmental technology firm, Tsinghua Tongfang Co. Ltd. (TTC), is looking to build, rehabilitate, and privatize water supply and treatment plants in the basin, which is home to 62 million people.

Massive rural-urban migration in the PRC over the past 30 years – the largest and most rapid in history – has put immense strain on public services in towns and cities. The discharge of untreated wastewater into rivers has caused widespread contamination, resulting in a growing shortage of safe drinking water. The Songhua River Basin, the third largest river basin in the PRC, is one of the country’s most polluted.

The PRC government is targeting a clean-up of the basin. A Songhua River Basin Water Pollution Prevention and Control Master Plan has been drawn up, supported since 2005 by ADB through technical assistance and loans totaling around $400 million.

“Treating more wastewater and improving the supply of potable water will reduce pollution in the urban environment around the Songhua River Basin, and improve the health and quality of life for millions of residents,” said Philip Erquiaga, Director General of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department.

TWE has earmarked capital spending of CNY3.5 billion ($512.6 million) from 2009 to 2011 – partly financed by ADB – to treat an additional 2 million tons of wastewater a day. Private investors and local commercial banks are expected to provide the remainder of the funding needs.

“The cost of developing water infrastructure is huge and this project shows how the public and private sector can work in partnership,” said Paul Heytens, ADB’s Country Director for the PRC. “Private sector participation in services usually provided by municipalities or the central government can enhance efficiency and lead to the use of newer technologies.”

ADB’s equity investment will be $10 million, or 15% of the paid-up capital of TWE, whichever is lower. The main A loan of CNY250 million ($36.6 million) carries a 10-year term, with a two-year grace period. A B loan of up to $100 million, involving international commercial banks, will also be extended, with terms to be decided later.

Source: ADB, 15 Jun 2010

Philippines: ADB, Manila Water to conduct study to restore Pasig River to Full Health

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Manila Water Company Inc. are funding an assessment of the wastewater and sanitation needs along the eastern side of the Pasig River, Manila’s polluted main waterway. ADB is considering providing Manila Water with a private-sector project loan to fund implementation of a wastewater treatment system once the study is completed.

The 27-kilometer-long Pasig River was once used by locals as a source of drinking water and fish, and a place to swim, but in recent decades it has been polluted by the increasing amounts of untreated sewage brought by rapid urbanization and insufficient sanitation systems. Like other major river systems in Metro Manila, the Pasig River is now biologically dead, damaging the health and livelihoods of Manila’s 11 million inhabitants.

Read the full news release.

See also:

• ADB – Pasig River Catchment Sewerage Project
• Country Water Action: Philippines Resuscitating the Pasig River, ADB, April 2009

Source: ADB, 26 Jan 2010

India, Jharkhand, Bihar: arsenic alarm in villages, government promises safe water

Thousands of people living in over hundreds of villages in different districts of Bihar and Sahebganj district of Jharkhand in India are facing serious threat to their health due to alarmingly high quantity of arsenic present in the underground water. The state government of Bihar has decided to provide safe drinking water in 150 arsenic-affected villages and 200 fluoride-affected villages across the state.

Bihar is facing one of the gravest natural disasters in the form of arsenic contamination of ground water. In the first detailed study of ground water quality, the Department of Environment and Water Management, AN College, Patna, has already submitted Interim Reports to PHED and UNICEF about the alarming findings on arsenic poisoning cases in the districts of Patna, Bhojpur, Vaishali and Bhagalpur. The study was conducted from April 2004 to May 2006, the study area being confined to 10 kms, wide belt along the Ganga river as per the instructions of PHED and UNICEF.

Dr. Ashok K. Ghosh

According to Dr Ashok Ghosh, Principal Investigator of Project Arsenic, Department of EWM, AN College, these findings are just the tip of the iceberg, as more contaminated aquifers are waiting to be detected in the remaining parts of the State. The water quality testing was done initially by Field Test Kits and then confirmed by AAS or UV Spectrophotometric tests. Epidemiological studies indicate that drinking water having more than permissible arsenic levels of 10 parts per billion (ppb) increases the mortality rates as arsenic is a bio-accumulative toxin.

Persons suffering from arsenicosis have not yet responded to known treatment procedures. The high intake of arsenic, along with under nourishment and lack of medical help have worsened the lives of the population in the arsenic affected rural areas. Arsenic can also contaminate standing food crops if it is present in the soil and soil water.

As Bihar plains are highly fertile and its crops are marketed to many distant places, apart from being locally consumed, it becomes imperative to test the levels of arsenic in the food chain too. What is worrisome is that arsenic contaminated ground water tables have abrupt occurrences both over time and space. This explains why a public hand pump in village Ramnagar in Maner tested 30 ppb in the post monsoon period and more than 60 ppb in the month of May. Also arsenic manifestation exists at different levels in different areas.

In north-west Maner, arsenic contaminated hand pumps have a shallow depth between 60 to 80 feet [18-24 m] in the diara belt.

In Bhojpur, the depth of contaminated aquifers goes down to 150 feet [46 m] away from new diara land, while in Vaishali, arsenic is found in the shallow and middle aquifers at an average distance of 5 km away from the river bank. Regular monitoring of drinking water from hand pumps is immediately required as a part of the mitigation strategy. Patna, the first district to be covered, revealed pockets of high arsenic contamination, above the acceptable limit of 10 ppb, in 171 villages in Maner, Danapur, Sampatchak, Barh, Bakhtiarpur, Fatuha, Khusrupur, Phulwari, Mokama, Pandarak and Patna.

1,060 village hand pumps were arsenic contaminated. The highest AAS reading of arsenic level in Government hand pump water is 724 ppb. Sampatchak Block has low contamination levels of below 50 ppb. In Bhojpur, the highest AAS test readings are 1861 ppb and 1,064 ppb in Pandey tola, Barhara Block, a situation far more serious than the one represented by the much-touted village Ojhapatti of Shahpur Block.

Out of the 6,292 hand pumps tested, 47.70 per cent were arsenic contaminated hand pumps. In Barhara, 62.84 per cent in Udwantnagar 59.39 per cent, in Shahpur 40.41 per cent, in Behea 37.17 per cent, in Koilwar, 29.20 per cent, and in Ara 25.88 per cent of Block level hand pumps were arsenic contaminated. In Vaishali, all the blocks covered within 10 km along the Ganga banks, has low level arsenic contamination at present.

In Bhagalpur district most affected areas are Kahalgaon, Pirpainti, Sabaur and Sultanganj. A detailed study has been presented on groundwater metal contents of Sahebgunj district in Jharkhand, with special reference to arsenic. Both tubewell and well waters have been studied separately with greater emphasis on tubewell waters. Groundwater of all the nine blocks of Sahebgunj district have been surveyed for iron, manganese, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in addition to arsenic. Groundwater of three blocks of Sahebgunj, namely, Sahebgunj, Rajmahal and Udhawa have been found to be alarmingly contaminated with arsenic present at or above 10 ppb.

Rivers flowing through the coal fields of Jharkhand have been reported to carry arsenic responsible for arsenic poisoning in downstream areas of West Bengal. The coal fields of Bachara and Piprawar areas of Jharkhand have contaminated the waters of the Damodar and its tributary, the Safi. According to author, arsenic contamination arises mainly due to the dumping of waste from the coal mines along the river bed. Coals of the area mentioned contains sufficient amount of arsenic.

Arsenic upto 608 parts per billion (ppb) was detected against the permissible limit of 10 ppb in some villages of Kahalgaon block in Bhagalpur district in 2005. Work was carried out by Dr Sunil Chaudhary of TM Bhagalpur University.

A detailed work was carried out by Dr Ashok Ghosh, Professor-in-charge, department of environment and water management, AN College, Patna, in the arsenic affected areas of Bihar. He found that out of 27,061 hand pumps, 7,218 pumps tested had arsenic contaminated water greater than 10 ppb (26.67 per cent). Highest arsenic value recorded was 1,861 ppb. Study also revealed that 87 per cent of the trivalent arsenic was found in the groundwater of Bihar.

The study by Bihar’s Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) reveals that the average arsenic content in drinking water in the 12 districts is 500 parts per billion (ppb). Patna is among the affected areas.

According to Dr Ghosh, a total of 16 Bihar districts (57 blocks) are affected by high level of arsenic in the groundwater. Worst-affected districts are Bhojpur, Buxar, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Samstipur, Khagaria, Katihar, Chapra, Munger and Dharbanga.

A very alarming recent finding by the research group is the detection of high arsenic content (more than 50 ppb) in the water of River Jaminia — flowing parallel to River Ganga in Bhagalpur district of Bihar. This river merges with Ganga and water from this river is being supplied to urban Bhagalpur without any treatment, alarmed Dr Ghosh.

Alarmed by the severity of arsenic’s impact on human body in these villages, the team also collected samples of hair and nail of affected persons for detail medical examination to ascertain the level of damage, said Principal Investigators Dr Ashok Kumar Ghosh and Nupur Bose of AN College Patna. The findings indicated that a wider area, including the fertile irrigational lands, was under the grip of arsenic.

According to another research report done by Dipanka Chakraborti in Semria Ojha Patti village in the Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar, where tube wells replaced dug wells about 20 years ago, analyses of the arsenic content of 206 tube wells (95 per cent of the total) showed that 56.8 per cent exceeded arsenic concentrations of 50 micro g/L, with 19.9 per cent greater than 300 micro g/L, the concentration predicting overt arsenical skin lesions.

[References used in this article are included in a blog post by the author, Nitish Priyadarshi]

Source: Nitish Priyadarshi, The Pioneer, 30 Dec 2009

The state government has decided to provide safe drinking water in 150 arsenic-affected villages and 200 fluoride-affected villages across the state.

“The government has identified these arsenic- and fluoride-affected villages to provide safe drinking water,” Bihar Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Ashwani Chaubey told IANS here.

Chaubey said the department was serious about providing safe drinking water to people in arsenic- and fluoride-affected villages.

According to him, there are 11 fluoride-affected and 13 arsenic-affected districts in Bihar.

The government is working on a ‘multi-village water supply project’ to supply safe drinking water to affected villages, he said.

The government would provide safe drinking water from the Ganga to villages affected by arsenic, an official in the department, said.

“First, the surface water (in the river) will be treated to remove harmful substances and then it will be supplied,” the official said. He said the treatment of groundwater containing arsenic was expensive and not sustainable.

The state government admitted early this year that high levels of arsenic have been found in the groundwater of different Bihar districts on either side of the Ganga river, posing a cancer threat, an official said.

Arsenic causes cancer of the intestines, liver, kidneys and bladder as well as gangrene.

People in several Bihar villages are suffering from bone deformation and a variety of skin problems.

Source: IANS, Hindustan Times, 15 Dec 2009

India: World Bank loans $1bn for Ganges river clean up

The World Bank has agreed to lend India $1bn over the next five years to clean up the Ganges, one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

The 2,500km (1,500-mile) river has been badly polluted by industrial chemicals, farm pesticides and other sewage.

Speaking in Delhi, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said the clean-up would target the entire river network.

Plans involve building sewage treatment plants, revamping drains and other measures to improve the water quality.

The funding is part of the Indian government’s multi-billion dollar initiative to end the discharge of untreated waste into the Ganges by 2020.

Environmentalists say the river supports more than 400 million people, and if the unabated pollution is not controlled, it will be the end of communities living along the banks.

Earlier attempts to clean the river have failed, including a plan to make its water drinkable by 1989.

But Mr Zoellick said he was confident the plan would work this time.

“In the past, [efforts] focused too much on individual aspects such as sewage emissions and not enough on the basin as a whole,” he said.

“What really distinguishes this project is to try to look at the whole river network and try to deal with all the aspects.”

Correspondents say many of India’s polluting factories are located on the banks of the Ganges and their effluent has been largely responsible for the pollution of the river.

The Ganges also flows through some of most crowded cities of India which release their untreated sewage into the river.

Also on Wednesday [02 December 2009], India’s finance ministry said the World Bank would triple its lending to $7bn this year for development, infrastructure and other projects.

Source: BBC, 03 Dec 2009

Indonesia: Controversy over clean-up plans for Java’s biggest river

The River Citarum in Indonesia’s populous Java Island is one of the world’s most polluted rivers but plans to clean it up are controversial.

By the time the 270km river, with its source in West Java, has passed some 2,000 factories and reached the Jakarta suburb of Bekasi, it is highly polluted, though many residents use water from it to wash their dishes and clothes, and even to cook food. Some 80 percent of Jakarta’s surface water comes from the river.

In December 2008, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) granted a US$500 million loan to the government for clean-up operations. Over a 15-year period, the ADB money should allow the government to rehabilitate the entire river basin.

The plan supports sanitation projects and seeks to provide safe water to those along its banks, while at the same time improving the lives of some 28 million people in its vicinity.

However, the People’s Alliance for Citarum (ARUM), an NGO, is concerned about corruption in the allocation of the ABD funding, and the project’s effectiveness. It said there was a lack of “monitorable, reportable and verifiable indicators to combat and prevent corrupt practices”.

But according to ADB spokesman Chris Morris, “fear” of possible corruption should not hold up projects that will ultimately improve the lives of many. A series of oversight measures “will also reduce the risk of corruption”, Morris said, citing community-based approaches, clear and transparent information systems and external monitoring.

Sunardhi Yogantara, director of Citizens Care for the Environment, agrees, saying concerns about corruption should not overshadow the urgent need to act now. “If nothing gets done, the river will die and that would be a catastrophe.”

Diana Gultom of Debtwatch Indonesia, a member of the ARUM coalition, is worried about the “absence” of a compensation and relocation plan for some area residents. The ADB wants to relocate close to 900 households, but final sites have yet to be agreed.

Yogantara also highlighted the health risks of living near the river, especially in the dry season, when “the river becomes an open sewer.”

Setiawan Wangsaatmaja, who has conducted research into health conditions near the river, said: “Especially during the rainy season we found a lot of cases of skin disease, diarrhoea and acute respiratory problems.”

Meanwhile, there others whose livelihoods depends on the pollution, like Edi Jundedi, a 56-year-old grandfather who sells plastic bottles fished from the river for 13 US cents a kilo.

Al Jazeera report on Indonesia’s “river of rubbish”

Source: IRIN, 23 Jun 2009