Shanghai is to invest up to 100 billion (US$16 billion) yuan over the next five years to improve its water utilities, city authorities said yesterday.

The cash will be spent on an anti-flood system, the water supply system and riverbank administration, said the Shanghai Water Authority.

Officials said the city had made big progress in water utilities last year, is investing more over the next five years and that overall investment should be doubled.

In one recent project, 15 streets often flooded by rain water due to their poor drainage systems are undergoing renovations, said the authority's drainage department.

Old drain pipes - between 300 and 450 millimeters wide - under the 15 roads, including Jiaozhou Road in Jing'an District, Xinzha Road in Huangpu District and Shuangyang Branch Road in Yangpu District, are being replaced by ones with diameters of between 800 and 1200 millimeters.

Construction is expected to be finished by June, before the plum rain season.

Meanwhile, Shanghai should continue to limit groundwater exploitation to protect the city's water resource, officials said.

Annual consumption of groundwater should be limited to 18 million cubic meters and more than 23 million cubic meters of water should be recycled every year.

Yesterday was annual World Water Day, with the theme of Water and Food Security.

As part of events, the Shanghai Water Authority launched nine microblog accounts for different departments to improve communications with residents.
 

Source:english.mep.gov