The city government of Luohe, Henan Province bought 5 million tons of fresh water from a reservoir to replenish its source of tap water, Lihe River, after local residents on Monday reported the river water was as dark as soy sauce, the Dahe Daily reported Wednesday.

Local residents say since Spring Festival  (February 10) this year they have seen white muddy things in the water after it is boiled, and the water looks like soy milk, the Dahe Daily report said. On Monday, residents found the water in the river was dark, and reported it to the city's environmental protection bureau.

After receiving complaints from local residents, Yang Guozhi, a deputy mayor of the city, held an emergency meeting on Monday, and decided to buy 5 million tons of water from the upstream Yanshan Reservoir that will be diverted into the river.

A senior official from the city's environmental protection bureau told the Dahe Daily that water levels in the Lihe River are low at this time of year and an upstream reservoir has caused the river to almost dry up. "The temperature is high and the river water does not flow, which lowers the river's water replacement and self-purification capacity. That is the major reason the water is dark."

Wu Junwei, the general manager of Luohe City Qingyuan Water Supply Company, told the Dahe Daily that when the water level in the river is low, groundwater flows into the river, which increases the water hardness, and that's the cause of the white muddy things.

According to Wu, the river's water hardness is 300 milligrams per liter. "The country's drinking water standards regulate that the hardness be fewer than 450 milligrams per liter."

A staff member from the city's tap water company told the Global Times that the company supplied residents with standard tap water. "All indices of the tap water supplied to residents meet with the country's standards all the time."

 The environmental protection official said the water quality of the river had deteriorated, and the bureau sent workers to investigate, but they did not find any sources of pollution.

"If the low water level upstream could not be solved, a similar situation would happen again," the official said.

A local resident, Lü Mingsheng, confirmed to the Global Times that water levels in the Lihe River have been low since Spring Festival this year. "Over the last two days, the water began to flow in the river."

Web users were critical of the government saying its action has failed to deal with the pollution problem.

Global Times