Clean drinking water is on the way for 5 million farmers in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The authorities there are working on the safety of rural water supplies with plans to give them clean water within five years.

And the local government wants to see clean drinking water in all the province's rural areas by 2020, according to Tan Cewu, director of the Shaanxi Provincial Water Conservation Bureau.

"Apart from improving the protection of existing water sources, we will upgrade old and build new water supply projects in rural areas," the director said.

This will be done in three ways, according to the official. First, new water supply works will be built where the conditions are appropriate. Second, new sources of water will be sought where original water sources have been seriously polluted and cannot recover. Finally, proper treatment will be provided in places where water with a high fluorine content is the only source of drinking water.

Jin Wenji, a farmer in Mingdu Village in Chang'an District, a suburban district in the south of Xi'an, the provincial capital, said better water could not come soon enough. The 66-year-old said: "We have been drinking water that hasn't been properly treated from rivers, ponds and wells. Low-quality and polluted water is threatening our health."

Shaanxi Province has one of the worst water supply situations in China and also suffers from water with a high fluorine content.

Around one-third of its population drinks unsafe water, said Wang Sousen, vice-governor of Shaanxi Province, in charge of rural affairs.

"Those who drink dirty or polluted water mostly live in rural areas. The statistics shows that 3.5 million farmers drink polluted water, 13 percent of the province's total rural population, because there are no water treatment facilities in the countryside," the vice-governor said.

In recent years, supported by the central government, projects to supply safe rural drinking water and treat water with a high fluorine content have been carried out in Shaanxi. Since 2000, 1.05 billion yuan (US$127 million) has been invested, Wang said.

For example, the Qiangba Water Supply Station in Weinan Prefecture in eastern Shaanxi has had 8.44 million yuan (US$1 million) invested in it by the central government. It provides clean drinking water for 25,000 farmers, said Shi Yongcheng, director of the Weinan Water Conservation Bureau.

Wang Wenchang, a farmer in Liucun Village, where drinking water was supplied by the Qiangba Water Supply Station, said he used to drink high-fluorine water which tasted bitter and salty, so friends and relatives who visited him would bring a bottle of clean water as a gift.

The provincial government is also planning to renovate and clean the Weihe River which runs through the province from the west to the east. With various factors affecting the river in recent years, drinking water for around 3 million people living along the river has been badly polluted.

Plans have been sent to the central government and will be carried out immediately when approved, the vice-governor said.

(China Daily June 21, 2005)