Fence halts swimmers’ dips in drinking water

A new fence around a lake intended to protect Beijing's drinking water sources from contamination has infuriated outdoor swimming aficionados.

The city's water authorities say it is a necessary measure as swimmers persist in flouting the prohibition, to the extent that the previous fence has been ruined.

Tuancheng Lake in the Summer Palace, part of the 110-kilometer-long Jingmi Diversion Canal, attracts scores of elderly swimmers all year round.

Many swimmers defy the ban, and persist in taking their daily dose of exercise, ignoring the signs around the lake banning swimming and fishing.

According to the Beijing News, Beijing Water Authority intends to spend over 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) to build a fence surrounding the lake.

The fence will be 2.4 kilometers long and 2.8 meters high. The project is expected to be finished by the end of March.

However, Yu Yaping, director of the publicity department of the Beijing Water Authority, told the Global Times that it was only a project to reinforce the previous fence built before the 2008 Olympic Games, and the cost will not be as high as media has reported.

"The old fence has been destroyed. People can clamber over the steel fences or pass through big holes made by frequent visitors," Yu said.

Tuancheng Lake is one of the most important water sources for Beijing, so people are barred from swimming in it, as this may pollute Beijing's drinking water supply, Yu said.

Tuancheng Lake is a first-class protected water source area, and will also be the terminal of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, expected to be ready to pump water to Beijing from Hubei Province in 2014.

Nearly 1.2 million cubic meters of water flows from the lake every day, half of the city's daily water consumption, according to the Beijing News.

Yuan Guodong, 76, who has swum in the lake for 15 years, said that it was illegal to build such a fence in the park.

"The Summer Palace is a cultural relic, so it's illegal for them to build such a steel fence here, which will undermine the view and bring harm to the environment," he said.

Water authorities have launched an ongoing citywide campaign to target illegal activities in recent years, including swimming, stealing gravel and fishing in prohibited waters.

They sent staff to halt illegal activities 68 times last year, which cleared 7,607 swimmers from lakes and 17,020 people fishing in prohibited waters, according to the Beijing News.

But Mu Jianxin, a senior engineer at China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, said in her opinion, swimming is not a major source of water pollution.　

"I don't think building a fence is the best solution for this problem," she said.