Posted on 05/09/2007 9:54:17 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BEIJING - Avoid drinking tap water during the 2008 Olympics — unless you're living in the Olympic Village. That was the advice from a high-ranking Beijing official on Wednesday, explaining the city's attempt to "guarantee water safety" for the Olympics.
He acknowledged the billions spent to clean and modernize the Chinese capital haven't been enough to provide potable tap water.
"The quality of the water provided by the water plants is safe enough," said Bi Xiaogang, vice director general of the Beijing Water Management Bureau.
"The water is contaminated during the secondary supply process, in the transfer of water. Therefore it is not safe to drink from the tap," Bi said. "We are still working on upgrading the secondary facilities. But in the Olympic Village we will provide safe drinking water from the tap."
The lack of potable tap water, chronic traffic jams and filthy air are major problems facing Beijing officials as they try to give the Chinese capital a complete facelift with about 500,000 foreign visitors expected for the 17-day Olympics.
"The 2008 Olympics are a national event," Bi said. "Ensuring the water supply is something that the Communist Party of Beijing and the government of Beijing attach great importance to."
Upgrading infrastructure is part of a two-pronged effort to get ready for the Olympics. The other involves a campaign to improve human behavior: teaching people to line up, coaxing taxi drivers to be more polite and getting everyone to curtail the habit of spitting.
As much as $160 billion is being spent to ready Beijing for the Olympics, much of it going into new subway lines, highways, hundreds of towering skyscrapers and new water treatment plants.
Despite upgrading water plants and urging conservation, Beijing faces severe water problems. The city has no major rivers and relies on rainfall, underground supplies "and support from surrounding provinces and cities," Bi said.
Beijing is also going through a decade-long drought, which has strained the fragile water supply. Few residents of the city of 15 million drink from the tap, relying heavily on bottled water.
Bi said a canal that will divert water from river-rich central China to the arid north will be ready in April 2008, taking the pressure off Beijing's limited supply.
"It is continuing on schedule," Bi said. "It will be able to divert water from full reservoirs in Hubei (central China) province to Beijing to alleviate the shortage of water and ensure water security for the Olympic Games."
This satellite image provided by GeoEye, taken Aug. 27, 2006, shows the Beijing Olympic venues. The director of a little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery from the skies says that the increasing availability of commercial satellite photos may require the government to restrict their distribution. (AP Photo/GeoEye)
Chinese workers cleaning up a river on the outskirts of Beijing. Rice farmers have been told by city officials to stop growing China's staple crop in areas near Beijing to ensure the water supply for next year's Olympic Games.(AFP/Teh Eng Koon)
Why in the hell have the Olympics in China anyway? They must have been the highest bidder...
The water maybe only one problem, I would also suggest bringing your own air supply. Reference the spitting ban thread.
They definitely can afford it ... on our trade deficit with them alone
I thought the Chinese were used to the germs in their tap water?
oh, wait, I forgot, this will be impossible... the Olympics will be rain-Free!
“Avoiding the pots” will be the official un-official event of the 2008 Olympics.
Bah. Turd world losers, despite their tawdry Potemkin skyscrapers. Peking ‘08 promises to be a total disaster—perfectly suitable snapshot of the failed and crumbling attempt at faking “civilization” in the hinterlands of Asia.
yuk.
The five star hotels in China all have signs warning you not to drink the water. They even supply bottled water for bushing your teeth.
I was in Beijing a year and a half ago, the water is foul.
The locals drink boiled water, it is available in the resturants
do NOT drink the tap water, at any cost, it is like a dysentary
Thereis plenty of botled water, flavored and plain, and the locals drink that, too.
Huh? I don't understand why the growing of rice compromises the integrity of the local drinking water. Oh, it's because the farmers use their own excrement to fertilize said rice crop, you say?
Now I understand. Maybe it's the "constant spitting" thing, or the insistence of eating dogs and cats, but I can only come to one conclusion: What a filthy people!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.