Recently, Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) printed and distributed the Circular on Intensified Work on Guaranteeing Safe Source Water, asking local environmental protection departments at all levels to put the environmental protection of source water at top agenda, enhance the guidance, and earnestly implement relevant measures, in order to ensure safe drinking water for the public.

The Circular pointed out that environmental emergencies had frequented China in recent years, posing serious threats to safe drinking water. In 2008, MEP directly handled 135 environmental emergencies, 46 of which had threatened the safety of source water. Since the start of this year, accidents including pollution of source water in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province in East China and water blooms in drinking water source of Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province in South China seriously had threatened the safety of drinking water. Local areas should learn lessons from those accidents and further enhance the protection of source water in their respective administrative regions. The tasks include the followings.

First, identifying the risks and troubles that threaten the safety of source water in their administrative regions. Based on the surveys on and evaluation of the basic environmental conditions of source water in the country, local areas should identify and eliminate the pollution sources in source water protection areas, quasi-protection areas and the upper-reach areas, intensify the oversight and governance of major industries that may affect the safety of source water, including pharmaceutical, chemical, paper making and smelting industries as well as major pollution sources, establish a list of risk sources and control the troubles at the source. Should any pollution accident occur to source water, efforts should be made to quickly identify the pollution sources and block the pollution, and under the unified guidance of the local governments, control the pollution and ensure safe drinking water for the people.

Second, investigating and punishing by law the behaviors that illegally discharge pollutants within the source water protection areas. According to Law on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, local governments should ban in the first-class source water protection areas all construction projects that have nothing to do with water supply and source water protection, and forbid activities that possibly pollute source water bodies. Those activities include cage breeding, tourism, and catering. Local governments should also firmly ban all the illegal construction projects in the second-class protection areas, adopt strict measures and prevent the cage breeding and touring activities from polluting source water. Moreover, local governments should crack down on all illegal activities that endanger water quality in protection areas, handle every case identified and make public the investigation and punishment results.

Third, enhancing pollution prevention and control in transportation sector. Local governments should, together with transportation and maritime departments and according to Regulations on Safety Administration of Hazardous Chemicals and Regulations on Safety Administration of Freshwater Transportation, oversight more strictly the oils and hazardous chemicals transportation, loading, unloading and storage facilities in source water protection areas, quasi-protection areas and upper-reach areas and urge those involved to improve the anti-flooding, leak-and pollution-proof measures. The docks concerned should be outfitted with adequate facilities that receive pollutants and wastes.

Fourth, further intensifying the monitoring of source water quality. For water sources that have potential risks, efforts should made to monitor more often water quality and pollution factors in cross-boundary sections, so as to learn about the changes in water quality and identify and solve problems on a timely basis. Efforts should also be made to build the capacity in emergency monitoring, and should any pollution accident occur, local areas should be able to quickly and accurately monitor and analyze the types, quantity, sources, and potential dangers of the pollutants, and come up with proposals on emergency disposal.

Fifth, laying a more solid foundation for source water protection. Following the Technical Guideline for Delineating Source Water Protection Areas and Technical Requirement for Source Water Protection Area Signs, local areas should unfold the work to divide and adjust source water protection areas and mount obvious signs in the verges of the protection areas and the traffic roads that crosses them. They should also develop emergency response plans for sudden pollution accidents happening to drinking water sources, have more drills for emergency response and provide managerial and technical backup for potential major accidents.

Sixth, improving the reporting system for guaranteeing safe drinking water. Local areas should report to the upper-level authorities on sudden pollution accidents that have happened or possibly happen to source water, if they are sure about them. It is forbidden to keep the accidents from the authorities. Pollution accidents that may affect the safety of source water should be reported to relevant people’s governments and upper-level environmental departments according to the procedures, and notify local urban construction, health, and water conservancy departments as well as water supply plants on relevant information, enable those plants to treat water harder and ensure that the people get access to safe drinking water.