Residents of Fuyang in Zhejiang Province stock up on bottled water after their water supply was cut at noon on Sunday in response to a nearby chemical spill. Photo: IC

Tap water supply in the eastern city of Fuyang, Zhejiang Province, resumed on Sunday afternoon after a three-hour suspension prompted by a chemical spill that contaminated the Fuchun River, Fuyang's water source.

According to the environmental protection bureau of the provincial capital of Hangzhou, the pollution has been effectively treated and the tap water supply in Fuyang was restored at 3 pm.

The spill happened about 3 am Sunday when a tanker truck carrying tetrachloroethane overturned on a road in Tonglu county.

Some 25 tons of the chemical was spilt and 8 tons flowed into the nearby channel, two kilometers away from the Fuchun River, after adsorption was used to abate the pollution.

Fuyang's government said it received the accident report at 7 am, and asked water utility companies in the city to stop drawing water from the river, also banning fishing on the section affected. Citizens were without tap water from noon, when the tap water supply was suspended.

Both Fuyang and Tonglu are under the jurisdiction of the provincial capital of Hangzhou. The Fuchun River is an upper reach of the Qiantang River, the main water supplier of Hangzhou.

The governments of Hangzhou, Fuyang and Tonglu have been treating pollution and monitoring water quality along the river.

The latest surveillance data showed that the chemical did not be detected at the spot where the affected channel falls into the Fuchun River, according to a statement issued by the environmental protection bureau of Hangzhou on Sunday afternoon.

Hu Wei, director of the bureau, said the contamination is within control and it is unlikely to pose any danger to the drinking water of Hangzhou.