China discovers unsafe tap water pipes

Chinese authorities on Tuesday named and shamed producers of unsafe tap water pipes, following a nationwide inspection of such materials.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission announced that 17 out of 546 randomly picked tap water supply products they examined were found to contain excessive chemicals including lead, nickel, aluminum, barium, stannum and chloroform.

The 17-strong list has been published on the commission's website. It includes polyethylene (PE) water supply tubes produced by Beijing Toptp Tianpin Science & Technology Co., LTD., PP-R pipes under the Plumbeasy brand produced by Zhejiang Goffen Group, and SUS316L stainless steel water pipes produced by Shanghai Yuanan Co., Ltd..

The health authorities conducted a nationwide inspection from February to April, targeting 2,378 producers of tap water supply products and 1,442 related businesses.

The massive inspection followed media reports earlier this year about enterprises manufacturing drinking water supply products with recycled materials, risking water contamination.

The commission has ordered all its local arms to punish unscrupulous producers and to step up supervision over products having a bearing on drinking water safety.