The scenic capital of east China's Zhejiang Province began construction Monday on a massive project to divert river water to replenish its major tourist resort -- West Lake.

The project comprises a water pipeline network and two water processing plants with a daily capacity of 300,000 and 100,000 cubic meters respectively, which will pump water from the Qiangtang River, a major waterway flowing through the city, and send it to the lake.

The city built a similar water diversion work in 1986, but it failed to operate fully all year round as the river water's quality fluctuated based on factors such as sea tides, since no processing plants had been built to assure water quality.

The new project is expected to be completed in late August and the continual processed streams will make West Lake more clear. Experts anticipate that water supply will reach 120 million cubic meters per year, or replacing the total lake water each month.

(People's Daily March 11, 2003)