TOTAL water consumption in Shenzhen reached 1.9 billion cubic meters last year, growing by 3 million cubic meters, or 0.15 percent, from 2015. The water quality of major drinking water sources in Shenzhen all met the national standards last year, according to a water resource report recently released by the city government.

Water consumption in Shenzhen climbed remarkably in 2010 and 2011 as the city’s economy was developing rapidly. A total of 1.9 billion cubic meters of water was consumed in Shenzhen in 2011.

Following the government’s launch of a new water resource management system, the city’s industrial structure was upgraded and water-use efficiency was raised, leading to a decline in water consumption between 2011 and 2013. However, water consumption went up again from 2013 to 2016 as both domestic and public consumption increased.

As water-use efficiency rose in Shenzhen, water consumption for every 10,000 yuan (US$1,515) of GDP saw a net drop of 45.86 cubic meters from 2000 to 2016.

Water consumption for generating 10,000 yuan of industry output value dropped by 8.13 cubic meters and water consumption for generating 10,000 yuan of industrial added value decreased by 24.09 cubic meters.

According to the report, the water quality of major drinking water sources in Shenzhen all met the national standards last year. The water quality of Mufenglang Reservoir and Sanzhoutian Reservoir reached grade-I national standards, while several other reservoirs met grade-II national standards.

Shenzhen had 2,721 millimeters of precipitation last year, up 65.82 percent compared with 2015. The city’s gross water resources reached 3 billion cubic meters last year, with a year-on-year growth of 64.41 percent. There were 161 reservoirs in Shenzhen as of the end of last year, and 50 of them were water-supply reservoirs.

(Zhang Yang)