She used to leave home early in the morning with a large barrel on her back after her husband went to fields. By the time she returned, it was noon. Up to half of the water often spilled during the long trek.

With the valuable water left in the barrel, she washed rice, vegetables, then dishes or her family's faces, and finally fed the pigs and cattle.

Dai is one of the 1.95 million mothers living in waterless rural areas of Chongqing, the largest metropolis in southwest China.

But the grueling daily ritual ended when "the spring of happiness" arrived in her village. The "spring" was the National Water Pool Program, which was launched in 2000 to help rural mothers in 15 water-deficient western provinces, autonomous regions and Chongqing.

Under the program, which is operated by the All-China Women's Federation, local governments built 80,000 water storage pools and1,000 water projects with 98 million yuan (US$11 million) raised from across the society, benefiting an estimated 780,000 people.

In Baohe Village, where Dai lives, the local government invested 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) to divert water from a remote river. The water is processed through sedimentation and filtration at a waterworks and then fed to each household.

Dai was moved to tears when she turned on the tap and saw clean water running into the basin at her home.

Dai began to breed pigs and silkworms, which yielded a net income of more than 10,000 yuan last year, a huge sum for her.

The per capita share of water resources in western China is 15 percent of the national average and three percent of the world average. Millions of people in the region live in poverty because they lack water.

Almost every household has a water pit to conserve rain water, which is usually used for drinking, and for feeding livestock and watering fields.

As the water quality is far from the state required standard for drinking, villagers suffer from many diseases. Nearly 90 percent of women in the region have illnesses.

Ding Anju, 35, went to fetch water three days after giving birth to her son 13 years ago. Shortly after, she caught a serious illness and suffered extreme fatigue. Her son died young.

Liu Tianqiong said, "I had taken only one bath since I married three years ago. I usually scrubbed my body with a wet towel.

"Since the water pipe was installed at home six months ago, I take a bath everyday and my health has improved," she added.

Water works have been built in 70 villages in rural Chongqing, providing clean drinking water for more than 50,000 people. In addition, residents have built about 20 fish farms and seven processing factories, significantly boosting farmers' incomes.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2003)