The Honorable Jingping E
Minister of Water Resources
2 Baiguang Road
Xicheng, Beijing
Dear Mr. E,
I am writing on behalf of myself and the citizens living in several different provinces of China. We are extremely concerned with the quality of drinking water available at our cities. We understand that the national government has already established several policies to resolve this problem, but the quality of drinking water is still seriously endangering people’s lives.
The contaminants that enter our water systems come from many different aspects of life, such as dumping of industrial chemicals, agricultural waste, and urban wastewater. About 70 percent of the water pollution nationwide comes from agriculture, particularly runoff from fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste (Hsu, 2014). Dr. Hsu is an assistant professor who specializes in Chinese economic development. The presence of heavy metals in seafood and crop has become increasingly common, passing on pollutants in water to the food supply. Additionally, researchers have shown that the sodium pentachlorophenate widely used in herbicide and bactericide is an endocrine disruptor that disrupts human body’s normal functions (Zhan, 2016). Yin Zhan is a researcher from China Academy of Sciences (CAS) who specializes in developmental biology and the biological effects of endocrine disruptors. As most water use comes from rural areas where agricultural industries are, people living in these areas find the drinking water increasingly insecure. Within the industrial chemicals dumped in water, it is found to have non-degradable waste and toxics. For example, in late 2015, Chinese water resources researchers detected plastic particles in salt – mainly Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Polyethylene (PE) used in plastic bottles (Zhan, 2016). In 2011, it was reported that 7 individuals including employees and contractors of Luliang Chemical Industry of Yunnan Province were convicted of illegally dumping 5,000 tons of chromium-contaminated waste into the river used as a drinking water source (Deng, 2017). Tingting Deng is a toxics campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia. According to the local residents, more than 140,000 tons of waste have already been accumulated in the river during the past 22 years.
I did some researches online and found that according to the National Standard for Drinking Water in the People’s Republic of China, the water should not contain pathogenic microorganisms; chemical substances and radioactive substances contained in water should not endanger human health; and the sensory properties of water should be good. This was set by the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China. One maximum standard for chemicals related to the 2011 event I mentioned above is that the chromium level in water should be no more than 0.005 mg/L. According to the Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards, it is no more than 0.05 mg/L. These 2 sources are validated because they are published by the government.
Additionally, I heard that the government is planning to implement water purification in some provinces of China. Although it can help with the issue of water pollution, we should always consider the impact of water purification. One of the many environmental issues related to the water purification process is the increase of carbon footprint. Physical water purification systems need power to run. Typically if burning fossil fuel or biofuel is the origin of this power, the carbon dioxide created through combustion will affect the carbon cycle, create more greenhouse gases and eventually impact our ecosystem. A more eco-friendly improvement would be using reusable energy such as wind and solar energy. Another issue is that, during chemical water purification, there is some amount of chemical waste that could remain in the water. For example, the excessive chlorine and fluorine left in the water could end up in human bodies.
I am aware that you have a lot of things to do as Minister of Water Resources of China, but as a concerned citizen, I am asking you to please find out some ways in general that can help resolve the issue of water pollution in China, especially the ones for drinking water.
I appreciate all that you do for our country, and I look forward to seeing positive changes. Thank you for your time.