The launch of the Qingcaosha project, which will provide a new source of drinking water from the Yangtze River, means that the people of Shanghai will have better quality drinking water as of 2010, said an official with the municipal Environment Protection Bureau on Wednesday.

Qingcaosha is an area of the Yangtze River.

Bureau director Zhang Quan said that Qingcaosha will provide Shanghai with more than 7 million tons of high-quality potable water every day as of 2010. That amount will supply approximately 10 million people, or 70 percent of the city's population.

Shanghai has enough water, but much of it is low quality, said Zhang. He said that Qingcaosha was the best option at present.

About 80 percent of Shanghai's drinking water comes from the Huangpu River. But that river quality is ranked third or fourth, while the water from Qingcaosha will be first-quality.

He also said that Qingcaosha will be more than a drinking water source; it will include a 500-million-ton reservoir that can supply the city for 68 days.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2008)