Algae on China lake improving but slick remains

BEIJING, June 2 (Reuters) Chinese officials said water quality was improving in the country's third-largest lake, choked by a polluted slick of algae, but experts warned that tap water in the area was still not safe, state media reported today.

Taihu Lake, in the southern province of Jiangsu, has been struck by a foul-smelling canopy of algae that left tap water undrinkable for more than 2.3 million residents of nearby Wuxi and prompted a run on bottled water at local supermarkets.

''Thanks to the strenuous efforts in the past few days, the water quality has improved considerably,'' the China Daily quoted Wuxi mayor Mao Xiaoping as saying.

Residents said the government was telling them it was safe to drink boiled water, but complained that it still had an unappealing green film on top.

Environment experts said it was unlikely to be fit to drink.

''Although quality of the water supply has improved significantly yesterday and now it is safe for washing hands or clothes, it still takes some time to become drinkable,'' the newspaper quoted Zhang Xiaojian, an environment specialist at Tsinghua University in Beijing, as saying.

Algae blooms can develop in water that is rich in nutrients, often because of run-off from heavy fertiliser use, industrial waste and untreated sewage.

Officials have invoked emergency measures, diverting the Yangtze river and seeding clouds to provoke rainfall, to try to flush out the algae. Heavy rainfall is also expected in the area in the next few days.

But the China Daily warned in an editorial that the government needed to head off environmental problems before they could explode into disasters, rather than take emergency measures only after a problem arises.

''As a country of 1.3 billion, the central and local governments must have a long-term view for sustainable development and foresee potential dangers or crises that could have a serious impact on residents,'' the editorial said.

Residents of Wuxi said the algae, which they said smelt like rotten meat, was driving a roaring trade at McDonald's and KFC fast-food outlets in the city.

''Here they fry food,'' said a company manager named Zhao as he queued at KFC. ''I can't eat dumplings or noodles because they would be cooked in water and it's too expensive to use bottled water.'' Reuters SZ GC0946