All Shenzheners will have access to potable tap water by 2015 in a government plan that passed expert appraisal Tuesday.

The city will invest 5.76 billion yuan (US$710 million) to improve water supply and water pipelines in the next 10 years, according to the plan.

By 2012, potable tap water will be available inside the special economic zone and in the central business areas of Bao’an and Longgang districts. It will be available throughout the city by 2015.

The city’s 54 water suppliers will bear the largest part of the upgrade cost, while consumers and the government will pay the rest. The money will be spent on improving the water supply and some substandard water pipelines. Some 2.62 billion yuan will be spent in the special economic zone, while 1.5 billion yuan will be spent in Bao’an and some 1.64 billion yuan in Longgang.

A ton of potable tap water will cost 0.1 to 0.5 yuan more than a ton of ordinary tap water, but it’s still much cheaper than bottled water.

Residents in Jiayuan housing estate in Meilin were the first to drink potable tap water as the Meilin water factory near the housing estate completed the upgrade this June.

The upgrade of the Donghu water supply and the Bijia Mountain water supply is not yet completed.

(Shenzhen Daily/Agencies September 23, 2005)