China running out of Fresh water

I did find a couple of threads from 2014, and 2009 concerning China and the possibility of water wars.. but I stumbled across some information from 2016 that I felt should be shared.



The video primarily breaks down the how and why of Chinas water issues.

China running out of water

80% of China’s underground water is not suitable for drinking and many rivers are too polluted to touch. Will China run out of clean water? A wave of recent reports from China make it clear that the country is now facing a water crisis of massive proportions. As Jules Suzdaltsev explains in today’s Seeker Daily report, industrialization and population growth have led to a core supply-and-demand issue in China. With a population of just under 1.5 billion people, the country has about 20 percent of the global population, but only about seven percent of the world’s fresh water. Making matters worse, rapid industrial development in the last 50 years has led to fundamental changes in how China uses — and pollutes — its water. According to statistics released in April by the Chinese government itself, more than 80 percent of the rural water supply in the country is now unsafe for drinking or bathing. A test of 2,103 underground wells revealed dangerous levels of contamination from industry and farming. More than half of China’s rivers are too polluted to use as water sources, largely the result of industrial spills and chemical runoff from manufacturing facilities. China’s Yellow River, which played a crucial role in the country’s radical industrialization, is now lined with literally thousands of petrochemical plants, leaving only 16 percent of it usable as a source for clean water. As a result, it’s estimated that around one-quarter of the country’s population — about 300 million people — drink contaminated water every day. Another report estimates that polluted water is responsible for 190 million illnesses each year.

They already have one northern city that has run out of water completely..

The numbers vary just a bit, but the general consensus seems to be that in the 2030's china will either be out of water or past the point of no return.

I was a little uncertain of what forum to use for this subject since it covers several different forums, IF I was in charge of china and we could not figure out a way to create/buy more water... there seems to be only one response left. (if you have more ideas please share them, it will help ease my paranoia)

They will need to take land that still has usable fresh water, they cannot wait to be out of water... it seems like their best bet is to strike earlier, then one of two things happen, they take land and gain more water... or they lose the war and are depopulated to a degree that gives them more time.

I understand this is a pretty bleak outlook by me, and thats part of the reason I am sharing the information is so others can point out what I am missing to ease my mind that the fecal matter could be hitting the rotating blades years sooner than I expected.

eta: This is a concern since with Trump pushing an America first standpoint, I wonder if he will decide protecting our water will be part of it... and move to block nestle from pumping millions of gallons a year out of our reservoirs to send to china. Has a vague resemblance to cutting Japan off from oil pre-WW2 for the US.

I have read and heard the same thing about China.. I will tell you though that the infrastructure all over S.E. Asia is absolutely terrible when it comes to water management. They go from almost a drought to a monsoon flood stage ...

Land is so expensive that I suppose the government does not want to waste land by digging a hole to store flood waters in for the next drought.

china has some serious problems and water is just one of them..IMO

Which begs the question, how could they sponsor a war ? It would be folly trying to supply their troops.

originally posted by: Plotus
Which begs the question, how could they sponsor a war ? It would be folly trying to supply their troops.

Because they would deem all water the property of the military and people would have to survive by sweating grass clippings.

Well, it sounds like China needs to head down to Harbor Freight and get the "Meglinating Variable Intensity Multifunction Power Tool" (they're running a special on it right now, and there's even a coupon in the latest flyer!). $59.95. Maybe they should get a few of them even! At that price, you can't go wrong!

I mean, this thing has got to be able to make water, it can do about everything else!
For example, it can be used for:
- Untranking concrete hex finials
- Retranking floating lug grout*
- Anonmorgling deck shims
- Preneumanizing subdivots
- Torquing slotted camshanks
- Synchrofusing synthetic toggle bearings
- Electromuting compressed velonoid laminate
- Removing Ear wax

* Note: Submersible dual-angle inverted caliper attachment required (sold separately).

It does 21,000 meglinations per minute even! AND, it's "startlingly LOUD!"
USMVIMIFPTA Rated - So you know it's good!

a reply to: Irishhaf

This is a concern since with Trump pushing an America first standpoint

You do realise this is due to in part a China first attitude, right?

Industry and production first, the environment and people second.

As to the solution? Water treatment plants

en.m.wikipedia.org...

Desalination plants. They built all those islands. May as well do something useful with them instead of militarization.

a reply to: Chadwickus

It has been mentioned before on ATS, I believe, that Obama gave China permission to buy fresh water from the US Great Lakes to help ease their self-caused dilemma.

When you have to buy water and haul it thousands of miles, that's the same as a dead canary in a coalmine.

I hear they even use it in the Adult industry.a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I could see China trying something but it would not end well for them. Disregarding Antarctica the two countries with the most fresh water in the world are Canada and Russia and if they were to try something they may attack Russia first and then send troops across the pacific and invade Canada through BC and possibly proceed north into the tundra and arctic, now if they were suicidal they could attempt to punch through alaska, but either way even if they were to use nukes, theyd have to fight against NATO and america plus all their nukes, and we would be allied with russia and their men and nukes, so im not to worried about China trying anything stupid.

I believe the term "Paper Tiger" had been awarded to a new contestant.

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: Chadwickus

It has been mentioned before on ATS, I believe, that Obama gave China permission to buy fresh water from the US Great Lakes to help ease their self-caused dilemma.

When you have to buy water and haul it thousands of miles, that's the same as a dead canary in a coalmine.

Yes they tow great big bladders here to fill them with our water. Lake superior has dropped nearly 9 feet since China and nestle have been allowed to rape our lake(superior). China is nice enough to dump their ballast water in the bladders into the lake on the west end, then turn around and fill up in the east end on their way out. That's what's destroying the lake right now. We get fresh pollution and disease from China for free. Nestlé pays a whopping 100$ a year to pump as much as they like as well....

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I got one of those.
A word of warning.....
Fine print at the bottom on the back of the box says:
"Not to be used for ear wax removal".

originally posted by: The Arbiter of Lies
I could see China trying something but it would not end well for them. Disregarding Antarctica the two countries with the most fresh water in the world are Canada and Russia and if they were to try something they may attack Russia first and then send troops across the pacific and invade Canada through BC and possibly proceed north into the tundra and arctic, now if they were suicidal they could attempt to punch through alaska, but either way even if they were to use nukes, theyd have to fight against NATO and america plus all their nukes, and we would be allied with russia and their men and nukes, so im not to worried about China trying anything stupid.

I don't necessarily see them going to war over this. It appears they have been trying to acquire options from the north, unfortunately, it will probably cost them more than they realize if Siberia agrees to go ahead with supplying them water.

The key to the Tkachev masterplan - unveiled at a meeting with Chinese Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu - is utilising the Gilevsky reservoir in Altai region, in operation since 1979, and the Kulundinsky 'channel' built in the decade to 1983. Other experts were more positive about the plan. Professor Stepan Svartsev, a hydrogeology expert at Tomsk State University, said: 'Water is the same resource as oil, gas, gold, and sooner or later we will start to sell it. 'We already sell it in stores; more and more people buy it. Water becomes a commodity, and with time it will become more valuable than oil. We should be ready for it. Our country has very large reserves, and certain volumes could be sold.' But it was vital to preserve the environment, he said. 'If we transport it in open channels - it will evaporate and there will be salting of soil. If we chose closed tubes - the problem disappears, but the water is more expensive because the tubes are expensive,' he said. Gennady Baryshnikov, deputy head of the natural resources and geo-ecology department at Altai State University, said it was vital to consult citizens and experts on such a scheme. 'If we are offered such project, there must be public and scientific hearings,' he said.

Source Link from May 2016

You see, China, India and Eastern Europe (then USSR) wanted their industrial sectors to run full-out in order to gain a competitive advantage. They couldn't be weighed-down with environmental regulations that would restrain their growth and production (not to mention profitability). Now all three areas are environmental cesspools --- toxic monuments to 'success'. When all you care about is making a buck and 'we'll worry about the fallout later' this is what happens. It will cost many times whatever profit was made to clean up their water --- if that's even possible. We went through the same thing in the U.S. around heavy-metal and PCB contamination. Fortunately, we stopped it before we were in the same position as China et al. But that kind of thinking apparently interferes with business and has become passé. Yay for the future. Make America Great Again... for a little while until we can't drink the water.

I live in an area of Japan with plentiful (but not by an means unlimited) source water. Chinese people were buying land here and just setting up water drilling equipment. The government has caught on now and prevents new drilling set-ups but there aren't any laws in place to stop the people who already are doing this on their land. To this day there are Chinese people just draining water from Japan and sending it to China.

a reply to: Irishhaf

another option, aside from passing environmental laws and cleaning up the water would be desalinization plants.

As long as China chooses to act now / soon, they will have no problems down the line. A simple example is the River Taff in South Wales - after hundreds of years of heavy industrialisation it was one of the most polluted waterways anywhere in the world. Now it has spawning Salmon and a complete eco system recovery, in a remarkably quick turn around.

The early indications are that China is indeed following this example in that bosses of firms that cause industrial pollution are now being hammered in China (and in some cases, executed). Nothing concentrates an executives' mind like a possible death sentence.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Maybe the should construct some more artificial island.

And use that superior creativeness they posses.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
a reply to: Irishhaf

another option, aside from passing environmental laws and cleaning up the water would be desalinization plants.

Until then I say we gouge the hell out of them. each shipment is a trillion off our debt.