Yellow River turns red
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-23 16:29
BEIJING -- A section of the Yellow River turned red and smelly on Sunday in
Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, and the local environment
watchdog has launched an investigation.
Residents were alarmed to see a sewage pipe pouring red water into the
country's second longest river between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Sunday. The
discharge occurred near a park by Nanbinhe Road in downtown Lanzhou. About a
kilometer of the river was discolored.
The city's environment protection bureau and the Yellow River water
environment monitoring center took samples of the river water for laboratory
testing at 5:00 p.m.
Kang Mingke, an official with the city's environment protection bureau, said
test results will determine what the red discharge was and whether it is
detrimental to the river's ecology. He said the test results were not yet
available Monday morning.
Kang said the red water could be from central heating systems, as there are
no chemical plants located nearby.
Many citizens suspect the same, adding that heating companies sometimes dye
the water in their pipe to prevent people from using it to cut their own water
bills.
Many boilers that provide central heating are being tested for leaks as they
will go into operation in mid November .
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