An upriver distillery that dumped large amounts of distillers' grains into the Hailang River might have caused the unidentified flocculation at a water supply source in Mudanjiang City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a government spokesperson said yesterday. The pollution sent local residents into a panic thinking that water supplies would be affected.

 

According to the spokesperson, Wang Shuyin, experts have concluded that the flocculation was an aquatic organism and would not cause a chemical pollution of the river. Warmer weather in recent days caused fermented grains from the distillery to accelerate the growth of the aquatic organism.

 

On February 19, flocculation had accumulated near a water inlet supplying Mudanjiang, the province's third largest city and home to about 800,000 people. Fermented grains also caused the tap water to smell.

 

Fearing a cut in water supplies, residents rushed to the supermarkets to stock up on bottled water.

 

When the frozen river thawed, the flocculation drifted downstream to the Mudan River whose water supply source is located in the lower reaches of the Hailang River.

 

The city has taken measures to ensure safe drinking water for its residents, and there will be no water cutoff, Wang said. Local authorities have mobilized extra consignments of bottled water to meet increased demand during this time.

 

The local water corporation has sterilized its running water with chlorine and other substances, and the city's tap water has been declared safe to drink, according to Zhang Lizhi, manager of the corporation.

 

The distillery, in neighboring Hailin, reportedly responsible for the incident, has been shut down, Wang added.

 

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily February 22, 2006)