South China's Guangdong Province is trying a new way to save water in its major cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen: flushing toilets with seawater or treated sewage rather than clean water.

Sources from the provincial construction bureau said currently the province is promoting the water supply in different pipes rather than the single pipe. The province plans to popularize the technique in all parts of the province.

When the water is transported in different pipes, it is possible for people to drink and wash with the clean water, and flush with treated sewage, said officials with the provincial construction bureau.

Compared with many developed countries which use treated sewage water to flush the toilets, China still uses clean water, because most Chinese cities are equipped with single pipe for water supply.

Statistics show that toilets consume about 60 percent of a family's total water.

Each year, over 10 billion square meters of clean water have been wasted in millions of toilets across China, equal to the total annual water consumption of 50 middle-scale Chinese cities, official statistics said.

Experts called all Chinese cities should pay more attention to saving water. Besides Guangdong province, other places like Beijing, Tianjin are popularizing to use the treated sewage water in toilets.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2004)