China Water: July 11, 2008: Shanghai water usage may hit new high.

Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
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Water usage to hit record high as weather heats up
Created: 2008-7-11 1:35:22
Author:Lu Feiran


SHANGHAI'S water consumption may reach the highest ever this year, due to continuous heat, and increasing population and economic development, the local water authority said yesterday.

The Shanghai Water Bureau estimated that daily water usage will peak at about 10.5 million metric tons, up about 2.4 percent from last year's usage.

Nearly 7 million tons will be supplied by downtown water companies, up 2.7 percent from last year, officials said.

Officials said they may limit the water consumption of some sites if the increasing water usage threatens supply, especially when daily maximum temperatures rise above 35 degrees Celsius for more than 10 consecutive days, especially in the Huaxin area of the southern city, Xibeidi areas of the northern city and Songbei area in Minhang District.

"We will first target some entertainment sites which are not vital to people's daily life, such as sauna houses," said Chen Yuanming, director of the bureau's water supply department.

"We have to ensure the water supply in residential areas, hospitals, Olympic and Expo venues and foreigner-related hotels."

According to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau's forecast, from Sunday the city will experience another period of extremely hot weather following thunderstorms over the weekend.

From Sunday, the daily high temperature will rise back to over 35 degrees, and the maximum temperature for next week will likely reach 36 to 37 degrees, forecasters said.

Chen said this year supply capacity had dropped to 10.8 million tons a day back from 11.3 million tons in 2006, because the northern branch of the Nanshi Water Co had stopped working to give way to the construction of the exhibition halls of the 2010 World Expo.

Authorities said although blue-green algae was not likely to bloom in the Huangpu River, they would still put potassium permanganate and active carbon into the flocculation basin as a precaution.





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