Report on water pollution ahead of World Water Congress

SHOTLIST Huailai county, Hebei Province, 2 September 2006 1. Wide pan of Yongding River 2. Polluted water flowing in river 3. Villager carrying pears walking to house in Jiuzhuangwo village 4. Wide of villager walking into house 5. Various of villager washing pear under tap water 6. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin), Du Huaiyou, 76-year-old villager: "We don't drink water in the Yongding River, because the water is not clean and it is polluted." (Q: Did villagers in the village drink water in Yongding River before?) "We didn't drink water in the river and we haven't drunk the water in the river for years. We drink the spring water from the mountain beside our village." 7. Wide of sheep drinking water from the Yongding River 8. Close of sheep drinking water 9. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin), Du Huaiyou, 76-year-old villager: "The government should forbid factories from discharging waste water into the river. They can't discharge the waste water into the river where people normally get water to drink. They should discharge the waste water somewhere else." Xuanhua city, Hebei Province, 2 September 2006 10. Wide of power plant, tilt to river with polluted water discharged by power plant 11. Close of polluted water flowing 12. Medium of pipe discharging water, zoom in 13. Close of water pipe Beijing, 7 September 2006 14. Set up of water expert Jiang Wenlai 15. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin), Jiang Wenlai, Researcher of water resources, Chinese Academy of Agriculture: "The problems of China's water resources can be summarised as 'too much water, lack of water, dirty water and turbid water'. By 'too much water', it means China has too many floods every year; by 'lack of water', it means many parts of China are terribly short of water; by 'dirty water', it means China has serious water pollution problems and by 'turbid water', it means the water is turbid because some areas of China have serious problems of water and soil loss." Xuanhua city, Hebei Province, 2 September 2006 16. Wide pan of Yanghe River (upper reaches of Yongding River) 17. Close of polluted water 18. Wide pan of factory on the bank of Yanghe River Beijing, 7 September 2006 19. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin), Jiang Wenlai, Researcher of water resources, Chinese Academy of Agriculture: "To a river, a factory can be a decisive reason for its water pollution in some areas. However, looking at the overall situation of China, waste water discharged by factories can be a very important reason for water pollution but not the only reason. As you know there are many reasons for water pollution, including waste water discharge in cities and of course industrial waste water." Yichang city, Hubei Province, 17 May 2006 20. Wide pan of Three Gorges Dam 21. Water flowing through dam Chongqing city, 21 August 2006 22. Various of villagers getting water in buckets from water wagon distributing drinking water during drought 23. Wide of villager carrying water buckets on shoulders 24. Wide of farmland STORYLINE: The Chinese government says all of China's major rivers are dangerously polluted and millions of people lack access to clean drinking water. The waters of the Yongding River, which runs through the Huailai County, in China's Hebei province, are no exception. Its waterbed has been polluted with lichens for years. 76-year-old local farmer Du Huaiyou said he hasn't drank water from the Yongding River for years, although the river is just 150 metres away from his village, Jiuzhuangwo, because it "is not clean and it is polluted." Du said too much waste water was being discharged from factories into the river. Yongding River, originates from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, runs through five provinces of China to Beijing. Keyword-environment You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/72feb38a03bacaa44c8ea815df10bcdf Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork