Taihu Lake Contaminated.. Water Shortage in Wuxi
Friday, June 1, 2007 11:2210 days ago I had lunch with an executive who had just traveled to see the famous Taihu lake, and the report was not exactly what the local tourist board would want tourists
reporting.
It was disgusting… so polluted.. there was a green foam all over
This morning, I was asked by a local CSR manager in Shanghai what was going on. Their people could not drink the water. Could not shower… and water was being sent from Shanghai operations to Wuxi for employees
The problem (according to 127 publications) is that Taihu lake has, like every fishtank I ever owned, been severely contaminated by algae and has contaminated the drinking water of Wuxi’s 7 million people.
For those that do not know Wuxi, it is outside of Shanghai (about half way to Nanjing), and many companies have established new manufacturing facilities in recent years.
Now, many of these companies are activating emergency EHS plans, and no doubt this will have consequences for the Jiangsu Provincial government who are now diverting the Yangtze to flush our China’s third largest lake.
As you can see in our daily news reports, few days go by without some news of a clean up, a spill, a regulation, or a proclamation. 
However, China’s third largest lake is so contaminated that 100,000 boxes of bottled water are having to be sent to ensure the water needs of 7 million residents can be met.
One can only hope that this incident will spur real action….
China Briefing Blog says:
June 5th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Seeing green on China’s lakes and rivers…
The water from tap water supply companies in east China’s Wuxi city became normal Sunday afternoon, ending a water crisis caused by the bloom of blue-green algae which polluted the city’s water source. Tap water supply for the city began …
rbrubaker says:
June 5th, 2007 at 3:17 am
The water may be drinkable, but having jurt returned from Suzhou, I can tell you that this problem (and others like the one being reported today in Anhui are creating resistance to a number of projects under review in the Peral Delta Area.
Add to that the Xiamen rally against the opening of a chemical plant, and you will soon see changes in how projects go through the EPA applicatoins.
Rich
rbrubaker says:
June 5th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Factories blamed for polluting Taihu ordered to shutdown
FACTORIES discharging excessive amounts of pollutants into Taihu Lake will be closed, a senior environmental official said in Beijing today.
An outbreak of blue-green algae in Taihu last week, tainted the drinking water supply of Wuxi in neighboring Jiangsu Province.
Read More
Seeing green on China’s lakes and rivers | China Briefing News says:
March 9th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
[…] to massive pollution being dumped into the lake. Rich Brubaker over at All Roads Lead to China had this to say about the matter: 10 days ago I had lunch with an executive who had just traveled to see the famous […]