Beijing Launches Largest Water Quality Monitoring

BEIJING, Oct 12 (Bernama) -- Beijing's water authorities said the national capital started its largest scale water quality monitoring operation earlier this month, according to the Information Office of Beijing Municipal People's Government. It reported water samples from 165 sites will be taken and tested. Technicians have finished their work at 92 points and will work on the remaining sites in early November. All the samples are subject to 106 tests in accordance with national standards, it reported on its website Monday. The operation targets the city's public water plants as well as water enterprises of some townships, it quoted a Beijing Water Authority spokesman. Previous monitoring focused on big enterprises with a capacity of no less than 10,000 tonnes. This year's operation additionally includes 17 water plants in townships, said the spokesman. It said the monitoring results could reflect processing techniques of water diverted from the country's south, as the "southern water" accounts for 70 per cent of Beijing's tap water. Starting from last year, a third-party agency has been introduced to conduct independent sampling and testing with the results to be made public. -- BERNAMA