Recycled water should be used to clean the Pearl River's tributaries, political advisors have said.

During the annual session of the Guangzhou municipal committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which opened on Sunday and runs until Thursday, the China Association for Promoting Democracy's Guangzhou committee said municipal authorities should use the recycled water to clean the tributaries instead of draining it into the Pearl River.

"A massive amount of water will be needed to clean up 121 tributaries ahead of the 2010 Asian Games being held in Guangzhou, as officials said they wanted to do," the committee said.

"Using recycled water is not only feasible but also economically and ecologically sound," it said.

Guangzhou's three leading wastewater disposal plants are capable of producing 10,000 cu m of recycled water, but only a small portion of it is being used, primarily for watering plants, cleaning roads and flushing toilets, it said.

Committee member Zhong Yang said: "The daily yield of recycled water will surge in tandem with the increased sewage disposal capacity.

"Better and more extensive use of recycled water will help save fresh water and lessen salt tides in the Pearl River Delta region."

(China Daily February 24, 2009)