A distillery emitting a great deal of distillers' grains into Hailanghe River might have caused the unidentified flocs at a water supply source in Mudanjiang, northeast China, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

Experts concluded that the flocs, detected at 2:00 PM on February 19, are aquatic organism and would not cause chemical pollution, said the spokesman Wang Shuyin.

The distillers' grains fermented and accelerated the growing ofthe aquatic organism as it has been warm in the past few days.

When the river thawed, the aquatic organism drifted to the Mudanjiang River whose water supply source is located in the lower reaches of the Hailanghe River, a tributary of the Mudanjiang River.

The city has taken measures to ensure safe drinking water for its residents, and there will be no water cutoff, Wang said. Local authorities have mobilized mineral water and bottled water for possible market demand.

The local water supply corporation has sterilized its running water with chlorine. By press time, tap water in the city is safe for drinking, said Zhang Lizhi, manager of the corporation.

The distillery in neighboring Hailin city has been punished, according to Wang.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2006)