Water pollution fueled by pursuit of 'good life'
- By Wan Lixin
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 7, 2013
This past May 1 holiday I took a few children to some small ponds in forest belt of the Outer Ring Road, trying to catch some luosi, or edible snails.
Prior to this outing, we had already undertaken several adventures and, as our experience steadily increased, our catch was getting impressive.
On a good day it was difficult to decide where to start, for the edges of the ponds were invariably lined with anglers, who tended to become uneasy if we encroached on their space.
These snails would be kept in clear water at home for a couple of days before they are prepared into a delicacy.
Of course, being so close to the water gives the children and the anglers more pleasure than the prospect of a delicacy.
The few ponds we visit are mostly stagnant water, the surface covered with slimy algae, but in a big city these puddles in a green belt are the best approximation of an idyllic retreat.
I have noticed that water holds a strange fascination for young children. For instance, in the wake of a rain shower, when water collects on the road, few children can resist the urge to make a splash.
Probably they have a primal memory of water where all species originated.
Biologists say that in the early stage of development, a human fetus has gills, just like a fish.
Unfortunately, as we grow up, water is more prized as a cleansing agent, or good repository for discharging sewage or waste.
We no longer have holy rivers, but water remains so important that it's no exaggeration to say that much of our prosperity and modernity can only be achieved at the expense of water (and air) - that is, if we have not yet mastered the consummate art of outsourcing. Essentially many economic development boosters are little different from a youth who sells his kidney so that he can buy a fancy iPad.
Illusion of tech fix
Our illusion of using technology and science to save the planet, and ourselves, spares us from dwelling too much on our own foolhardiness.
When our tap water becomes suspect, we can always turn to "natural" bottled water, said to have its source thousands of meters below, or above, the sea.
When that bottled water becomes suspect, we can always invest our hope in new, more stringent technical standards for bottled water.
China's environmental watchdog and several other ministries have ordered the cleanup of underground water in the North China plain, where contamination by heavy metals and organic material is a problem.
Let's hope it works and that this effort will kick start the cleanup of underground water nationwide.
This cleanup initiative in the area immediately surrounding the capital of our country is a positive move, if only because it owns up to the gravity of the nationwide problem.
Early this year a lawyer in Beijing petitioned the environmental watchdog to release information about the methods used to investigate China's soil contamination - and the result. The petition was rejected by the ministry, on grounds that this kind of information is a state secret.
The latest circular issued for cleanup around Beijing concluded that the pollution is so severe that prospects of ever remedying the situation are grim.
It is now known that underground water in the region has been contaminated by lead, chromium, mercury and cadmium seeped into the ground water from the surface where it had been discharged or dumped by factories and mining enterprises in Tianjin Municipality, Hebei, and Shandong provinces. One chief source of pollutants is the drainage area of the Haihe River, the so-called "mother river" of Tianjin. In 2010, the waste water discharge into the Haihe drainage area totaled nearly 5 billion tons, attributed mainly to heavily polluted rivers, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, and irrigation using substandard "recycled" water.
Among the chief environmental hazards are petrochemical plants, mining factories, landfills, industrial parks and golf courses. But there is no isolated, localized solution for water pollution, for water is fluid.
That's why we need a national blueprint, developed by the highest authority, not just the environmental watchdogs, which are not know for their teeth.
Water is 'fluid'
Unless we can keep water clean upstream, there is little sense talking about cleaning up at the estuary. Prosperous urbanites become indignant about environmental pollution in previously pristine areas, disgusted that something beautiful should be traded for something worthless. Little do they realize, however, that much of the pollution is created to keep up with their ever-heightened craving for modern amenities.
For instance, an average prosperous urbanite today is dependent upon batteries that power their iPads, laptops, mobile phones and cars. Batteries for electronics are full of mercury, cadmium, and lead, and it is reported that a button-size cell can contaminated 600 square meters of water.
The aspiration for the latest iPads and cars is now a quasi-spiritual quest, but no privileged urbanite would like to live next to a battery plant.
In other words, they crave modern amenities, but are reluctant to live with the consequences of their good life, and this attitude is at the root of our environmental mess. There is little chance of real solution unless we abandon this beggar-thy-neighbor approach.
There was a time when cities and villages were mutually beneficial. The night soil from the towns were carried in river barges to the countryside, later used as crop manure. Urbanites were then rewarded with bumper harvests.
Today the night soil ends up in the sewage system, and the town people are sending fertilizers and pesticides to the village, which boosts production while poisoning the soil. The rising production enables the prime-age villagers to work the assembly line, creating more toxicity.
In our eagerness to spread the gospel of prosperity to every corner of the countryside, as hundreds of millions of peasants are being initiated into the wonders of cars, mobiles and electronics, we should be wary of any ambitious but localized water cleanup plans.
As pollutants are pushed steadily upstream in a game called industrial capacity transference, what can those located downstream expect?
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)