From dirty to clean: a tale of Xinjiang drinking water

Tap water: a new standard

To supply high quality tap water to local residents, construction started again in the water treatment plants in Hotan this year.

This is one of the major projects led by the city of Beijing to aid Hotan's development. It will improve the quality of tap water in accordance with Beijing standards, which is higher than the national tap water standard.

Upon completion, the 300,000 residents from different ethnic groups in Hotan will have access to high quality water to the same standards as Beijing.

"We will not only provide sanitary water to local people, but also healthy water," said Wang Zhaolong, a Beijing official engaged in Xinjiang assistance work in Hotan.

In March 2010, the Chinese government initiated a "pairing assistance" program to support Xinjiang in building new infrastructure and developing local industry. The program requires 19 provinces and cities to support Xinjiang development.

Beijing cadres in Xinjiang have come to understand the water quality in Hotan over the past six years.

"Heavy scale can be found in the pot after being used for only two weeks. Plenty of cadres suffered renal calculus and cholelithiasis during their time in Xinjiang," said Zhang Fengbo, an inland doctor who is working in the region.

"More than 70 percent of my patients suffered lithiasis in 2015," Zhang said.

In the summer of 2016, water experts were invited to conduct research on local water quality.

"Similar to water in other northwestern areas of China, Hotan's water tastes bitter and salty. Frequent drinking may result in yellow teeth and lithiasis," said Zhang Yongqiang, executive manager of the water treatment plant project in Hotan.

It means the quality of underground water in Hotan is far lower than of healthy water.

An investment of 97.46 million yuan was raised by the Beijing municipal government to renovate collecting tanks, purify equipment, and monitor facilities in water treatment plants in Hotan, as of March.

Zhang said the new equipment for the water treatment plants with advanced techniques could effectively treat the highly mineralized water.

"It is just like installing water purifiers in the city," Zhang said.

Hotan people can finally drink healthy water.

"I never dreamt that I could drink water of such high quality," Yarmamat said.