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Posted on 04/17/2008 2:56:38 AM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
A large outbreak of algae has appeared in Taihu Lake four months earlier than usual, raising concerns that the pollution may mirror last year's water crisis in the nearby city of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, the Chongqing Morning Post reported yesterday.
The blue-green algae was found in western and southern areas of Taihu, the biggest lake in eastern China, said Lin Zexin, deputy director of the Management Bureau of Taihu Area.
The algae bloom usually takes place in July and August. Last year, it occurred in May, the report said.
Algae can be widely found in water bodies and is not harmful in small amounts.
It grows easily in polluted water and can be harmful as it produces a high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorous.
An excessive amount of algae removes oxygen from the water, killing aquatic life which then decay and release more toxins.
Taihu Lake borders Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and covers a total area of about 3,160 square kilometers.
The lake suffered a severe algae outbreak at the end of May last year, which rendered tap water undrinkable for one week , affecting half of the 2.3 million residents in Wuxi.
To ease the algae pollution, the bureau began introducing 1.19 billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze River to Taihu starting in January, Lin said. The move was intended to raise the water level in Taihu, speeding up the water flow in the lake, Lin said.
However, it may take at least five years to control pollution in the lake, Lin told the newspaper.
Authorities have blamed pollution for last May's algae outbreak in Taihu. There were nearly 10,000 enterprises operating around the lake before the outbreak.
In the mid-1990s, massive amounts of sewage were dumped in the lake. The output of whitebait in Taihu stood at 400 tons in recent years, compared with the record of 2,000 tons.
China's supply of safe drinking water is under severe threat, Vice Health Minister Chen Xiaohong has warned.
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