Groundwater Pollution in China.docVIP

Groundwater Pollution in China 　　Deng Fei， a web journalist and social activist， has sparked a social media movement by asking a very simple question on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo： “How is the river in your hometown？ While you’re home for the holidays， take a photo of the river or stream in your hometown and upload it to Weibo for us to see.” In less than a week， the question has become one of the most hit topics in Weibo， with thousands of net-citizens responding to the call and posting the photos in Weibo. 　　After Mr. Deng’s Campaign was launched online， photos of a chemical plant “secretly discharging untreated waste water deep underground， using high-pressure injection wells to avoid supervision” in Weifang， Shandong province was posted， sparking a heated discussion online. Groundwater pollution hits the headlines in many newspapers again. State media including People’s Daily， Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television also have called to act against groundwater pollution. 　　How bad is the situation？ 　　As you might have guessed， the condition of groundwater is horrifying. In 2010， a study conducted by the China Geological Survey （CGS） showed that more than 75 percent of groundwater in the North China Plain is not safe to drink without being properly purified. The study also revealed that groundwater in the North China Plain has been contaminated by heavy metals， chemical fertilizers， pesticides， herbicides， leaks from garbage dumps and sewage water. 　　In 2011， China’s Ministry of Land and Resources monitored the quality of groundwater in 200 cities， 55% of the groundwater in cities monitored were “poor or very poor” quality. 　　In 2012， Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology of Chinese Academy of Sciences entrusted by Greenpeace China launched a nationwide investigation into the quality of surface water and groundwater in some 80 densely populated areas such as Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province， Dongting Lake in Hunan Province， Tai Lake in Jia