Lanzhou government admits quality supervision problems at tap water supplier

Authorities in Lanzhou, Gansu province, admitted on Tuesday that a joint Sino-French water supplier plant has loopholes in quality supervision and the government also had problems in inspecting the plant.

Lanzhou Tuesday lifted up emergency status after excessive of levels of benzene in the water affected more than 2.4 million local residents, an official from the government publicity department said at a media briefing.

Wang Ning, director of the publicity department, said that investigations into the incident will be the next step, and repair work on the water culvert which was breached needs to speed up. People and organizations involved in this incident will be punished in accordance with the law after the final result of the investigation is revealed, Wang added.

Lanzhou Veolia Water Company, along with the local environment protection watchdog and disease control center, will test and disclose the levels of benzene in the water once a day before the culvert reconstruction is finished.

This data will be publicly published by the supplier once a month after construction is finished, Wang said.

Veolia Water had tested water quality every six months and the April test, which discovered the dangerously high benzene levels, was not originally scheduled. The results of the regular test in March met all national standards, the company told media on Monday.

The authorities also vowed to strengthen the supervision toward Veolia Water, the government said Tuesday.

Tests on Monday showed that benzene levels in Lanzhou's tap water met national standards. s

Five Lanzhou residents attempted to file a lawsuit against Veolia Water on Monday, claiming compensation and an apology from the water supplier and urging it to disclose the water test data for recent years.

Lanzhou intermediate court threw out the claims, saying that residents lack the capability to launch such lawsuits in accordance with the law, Zhejiang-based jinbaonet.com reported on Tuesday.