Yellow River Basin

Of the 185 monitored sections, 49.7% were worse than Grade V. Of the 28 monitored sections along the mainstream, 3.6%, 7.0%, 35.6%, 32%, and 7.6% met the water quality standard for Grade I, II, III, IV, V, respectively, and 14.2% were worse than Grade V. The water quality in the mainstream was better than in the tributaries.

The water quality in Yellow River Basin was, in general, relatively poor. The major pollution indicators were petroleum, permanganate index and BOD.

Water Quality Grading in Yellow River Basin

Pearl River Basin

Of the 49 monitored sections, 73.5% met the water quality standard for Grade I to III, 18.3% met the water quality standard for Grade IV or V, and 8.2% were worse. The water quality in Pearl River Basin was good in general. 

The major pollution indicators were petroleum, permanganate index and BOD.

Water Quality Grading in Pearl River Basin

Songhua River Basin

Of the 101 monitored sections, 1.0%, 4.0%, 22.8%, 35.6%, 21.8% and 14.8% met the water quality standard for Grade I through V and worse than V, respectively. 

Nenjiang River met the water quality standard for Grade III. The water quality of the mainstream of Songhua River within Jilin Province was dominated by Grade III, while in Heilongjiang Province, it was dominated by Grade IV.

The major pollution indicators were volatile phenols, BOD and permanganate index.

Water Quality Grading in Songhua River Basin

Huai River Basin

Of the 93 monitored sections, 16.1% met the water quality standard for Grade II or III, 39.8% met Grade IV or V, and 44.1% were worse. 

Of the 13 monitored sections in the mainstream, 38.5% met the water quality standard for Grade I to III, 46.2% met Grade IV or V, and 15.3% were worse than Grade V. The water quality in the immediate tributaries was dominated by Grade IV and V. The water quality in the secondary or tertiary tributaries, at sections across provincial boundaries and in the territory of Shangdong Province was mainly worse than Grade V.

The major pollution indicators were ammonia nitrogen, BOD and permanganate index. 

Water Quality Grading in Huai River Basin

Hai River Basin

Of the 118 monitored sections, 14.4% met the water quality standard for Grade III, 14.4% met Grade IV or V, and 71.2% were worse than Grade V.

The pollution in Hai River Basin was serious. The major pollution indicators were mercury, petroleum and ammonia nitrogen. 

Water Quality Grading in Hai River Basin

Liao River Basin

Of the 67 monitored sections, 17.9% met the water quality standard for Grade III, 29.9% met Grade IV or V, and 52.2% were worse than Grade V.

The pollution in Liao River Basin was severe. The major pollution indicators were BOD, ammonia nitrogen and volatile phenols. 

Water Quality Grading in Liao River Basin

Rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces

Of the 26 monitored sections in 14 rivers, 50.0% met the water quality standard for Grade III, 34.6% met Grade IV, and 15.4% were worse than Grade V. No sections were found with the water quality of Grade V. The major pollution indicators were petroleum and dissolved oxygen. The sections severely polluted were concentrated in Qiantang River in Hangzhou and Yongjiang River in Ningbo. 

Rivers in the Southwest

The water quality was good in general. Of the 16 monitored sections in 9 rivers, 87.5% met the water quality standard for Grade III, 12.5% were worse than Grade V. No sections were found with water quality of Grade IV or V. The concentration of heavy metals in water at only 2 sections exceeded the quality standards.

In-land Rivers

The water quality of the in-land rivers was good in general. Of the 19 sections of 7 rivers, 84.2% met the water quality standard for Grade III and 15.8% met the standard for Grade IV or V. Major pollution indicators were permanganate index and petroleum.

Water Quality in the Three-Gorges Reservoir Area

All of the 7 sections in the mainstream and 3 sections in the tributaries in the Three-Gorges Reservoir area met water quality standard for Grade III. The water quality remained good. Only the water quality in the third quarter of the year at 5 sections of Zhutuo, Tongguanyi, Cuntan, Qingxichang and Tuokou in the mainstream exceeded the water quality standards due to the lead contamination. 

Water Quality along East Route of South-to-North Water Diversion Project

Three of the 13 monitored sections met the targets set in the plan (Grade III water quality), accounting for 23.1%. Two of the sections, about 15.4%, met the water quality standard for Grade IV. Five of the sections, accounting for 38.4%, met the standard for Grade V. The water quality at 3 sections, accounting for 23.1%, was worse than Grade V. The major pollution indicators were BOD, ammonia nitrogen and permanganate index. 

Lakes and Reservoirs

Major lakes were severely polluted by nitrogen and phosphorus, resulting in a predominant problem of eutrophication. Caohai of Lake Dianchi was in a state of serious eutrophication, while Lake Tai and Lake Chao were in a state of light eutrophication. 

Tai Lake

There were 99 monitoring points, of which 20 were inside the lake, 27 were in the main rivers around the lake and 52 were in the conjunction waters around the lake.

Of the 20 monitoring points inside the lake, 5%, 35%, 5% and 55% met the water quality standard for Grade III, IV, V or worse than Grade V, respectively. Main pollutants were total nitrogen and total phosphorus. The pollution of Wuli Lake and Meiliang Lake within the Tai Lake area were more serious than that in the center, east and west parts and the coastal area of the Lake. The assessment on eutrophication showed that the internal area of Tai Lake was in a state of light eutrophication.

Water Quality Grading in Tai Lake

Main Pollution Indices in Tai Lake in 2002

The water pollution in the rivers around the Lake and in the conjunction areas was serious. The main pollution indicators were ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus and BOD. Of the 79 monitoring sections for water quality, 59.5% met the Grade I to III standard for permanganate index. Considering integrated assessment of water quality, 2.5%, 3.8% and 93.7% of the monitored sections met the standards for Grade II/III, IV/V and worse than Grade V, respectively. As compared with the previous year, the water quality in rivers around the Tai Lake was degraded to some extent. 

Percentage of Sections in the Rivers around Lake Tai
with Water Quality Reaching Grade III Standard

* The assessment was conducted in accordance with Grade III of “Water Quality Standards for  Surface Waters GB 3838-2002”.

Dianchi Lake

The pollution in Caohai of Dianchi Lake was more serious than that in Waihai. The water quality of Waihai met Grade V standard, while in Caohai, it was worse than Grade V. As compared with the previous year, the water quality in Waihai was improved to some extent. Its permanganate index reached Grade III standard. The nitrogen and phosphorus pollution was still very serious. The nutrient indices of Caohai and Waihai were 79.0 and 60.8, respectively, with total lake average of 72.8. Lake Dianchi was in a state of serious eutrophication.

Main Pollution Indices in Lake Dianchi in 2002

Chao Lake

The permanganate index in the lake reached the standard for Grade III, but the pollution of total nitrogen and total phosphorus was serious. At the 12 monitored points, the water quality at half of the points met the Grade V standard, while the water quality at the rest of the points was worse than Grade V. As compared with the previous year, the water quality of the Lake was improved slightly. 

The pollution in the west part of the Lake was more serious than that in the east part. The west part of the Lake was in a state of moderate eutrophication, while the east part was in a moderate nutrient state. The average nutrient index of the Lake was 52.7, indicating a light eutrophication.

Main Pollution Indices in Chao Lake in 2002

Comparison of Eutrophication in the Three Lakes

Other large lakes

Among the 8 freshwater lakes of Dongting, Dalai, Hongze, Xingkai, Nansi, Bositeng, Erhai and Jingpo, the water quality of Lake Xingkai was good and met the Grade II standard. The water quality of Lake Dongting and Lake Jingbo met the Grade IV standard. The water quality of Lake Dalai, Lake Bositeng, Lake Erhai and Lake Hongze met the Grade V standard. The pollution in Lake Nansi was relatively serious with water quality worse than Grade V standard.

Lakes inside cities

In 2002, the water quality of the lakes inside cities was relatively poor. Except that the water quality of Kunming Lake in Beijing met the Grade III standard, the water quality of the West Lake in Hangzhou, the East Lake in Wuhan and the Lake Daming in Jinan were all worse than Grade V. 

Large reservoirs

Among the 10 large reservoirs, the water quality of Miyun Reservoir, Shimen Reservoir and Qiandaohu Reservoir was relatively good, reaching Grade III standard. The water quality of Dahuofang Reservoir in Fushun, Yuqiao Reservoir in Tianjin, Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hubei Province and Dongpu Reservoir in Hefei met Grade IV standard. The water quality in Songhua Lake met Grade V standard. The pollution in Laoshan Reservoir in Qingdao and Menlou Reservoir in Yantai was relatively severe with water quality worse than Grade V standard.

Of the 218 cities and regions in which the ground water level was monitored, as compared with the previous year, 75 cities and regions witnessed the rising back of ground water levels, accounting 34% of the total. The regions with the drop of ground water level accounted for 50%, indicating a decrease by 12% as compared with the previous year.

The ground water quality in most cities and regions across the country was good in general, while some parts were polluted by point or non-point pollution sources to some extent with some indicators exceeding the standards. The polluted areas were mainly distributed in downtown area of the cities in which the population density and industrialization level were relatively high. The main indicators exceeding the standards were mineral content, total hardness, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia nitrogen, iron, manganese, chlorides, sulfates, fluorides and pH. The pollution of three types of nitrogen was relatively prominent all across the country. The problem of mineral content and hardness exceeding the standards were found mainly in the Northeast, North China, Northwest and Southwest regions. The problems of iron and manganese exceeding the standards were reported mainly in Northeast and South China regions. As compared with the previous year, the ground water quality in most cities and regions was basically stable, or with the pollution being alleviated slightly. The ground water quality in certain areas of some cities had a worsening trend. 

Discharges of Wastewater and Major Pollutants

In 2002, the total discharge of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage across the country was 43.95 billion tons, an increase of 1.5% as compared with that in the previous year. Among the total discharge, the discharge of industrial wastewater was 20.72 billion tons, an increase of 2.3% as compared with that in the previous year; the discharge of domestic sewage from cities was 23.23 billion tons, an increase of 0.9% as compared with that in the previous year. The total COD discharge in wastewater was 13.669 million tons, decreasing by 2.7% as compared with that in the previous year. The discharge of COD in industrial wastewater was 5.84 million tons, decreasing by 3.9% as compared with that in the previous year; the discharge of COD in domestic sewage from cities was 7.829 million tons, decreasing by 1.8% as compared with that in the previous year. 

Discharges of Wastewater and Major Pollutants

In 2002, the rate of industrial wastewater discharge in compliance with the discharging standards was 88.3%, increasing by 2.7% as compared with that in the previous year. The rate of wastewater discharge from key enterprises in compliance with the discharging standards was 89.4%, increasing by 2.5% as compared with the previous year. The rate of wastewater discharge from other enterprises in compliance with the discharging standards was 80.3%, increasing by 6.6% as compared with that in the previous year. 

Measures and Actions

Supervision and Inspection on Tenth Five-Year-Plan for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in Tai Lake River Basin

SEPA and Ministry of Supervision jointly organized the supervision departments from 12 ministries and commissions under the State Council to conduct a comprehensive inspection on the implementation of the plan. 

Formulation of the Tenth Five-Year-Plan for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in Huai River, Hai River, Liao River, Lake Chao and Dianchi Lake Area

SEPA organized a joint effort of 14 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the “Three Rivers and Three Lakes” areas to formulate the plan based upon comments that were extensively collected from the State Development and Planning Commission, State Economic and Trade Commission, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Water Resources. The plan was submitted to and got approved by the State Council. 

Ecological Water Diversion Project

In the in-land river basins of Talimu River and Hei River, the ecological water diversion projects were kept being implemented, which revitalized a large area of diversiform-leaved Poplar forest in the downstream areas of Talimu River and Hei River. The environment was obviously improved.

Water Pollution Prevention and Control in the Three-Gorges Reservoir Area and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project

In order to implement the “Program of Water Pollution Prevention and Ecological Conservation in the Three-Gorges Area and Its Upper Streams” and the “Program of Water Pollution Prevention and Control along the Central Route of South-to-North Water Diversion”, SEPA conducted a special inspection on the clean-up of the watershed and the prevention and control of pollution caused by vessels in the Three-Gorges Reservoir area, and the water pollution prevention along the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion. 

Charging for the Use of Urban Infrastructure Policy and Polluter-pays Policy

In 2002, the Ministry of Construction, State Development and Planning Commission and SEPA jointly promulgated the Notice on Strengthening the Collection of Wastewater Treatment Charges and Setting up of A Sound Operating Scheme of Urban Wastewater Discharge and Its Centralized Treatment. The Notice on the Collection of Municipal Sewage Treatment Charges and the Promotion of the Industrialization of Garbage Treatment was also promulgated and implemented.