CRI听力:Beijing Ready to Receive Water from Water Diversion Project

A water plant in Beijing has now passed a test and is able to purify water from the South-North Water Diversion Project.

This comes as the first phase of the middle route for China's South-to-North Water Diversion project will soon start operation.

CRI's Wang Mengzhen has more.

Located in southern Beijing, the Guogongzhuang Water Plant is the first major one built in the downtown area.

It is expected to transfer 500 thousand cubic meters of water daily from the Hanjiang River, a branch of the Yangtze river, to meet the demand of nearly 5 million residents in south Beijing.

Zhang Zhouqiang, director of the Engineering Department at the Guogongzhuang Water Plant.

"The plant has met the conditions of purifying the water diverted by the project. Now some jobs including greening the nearby routes, cleaning the roads and making refined decorations are under way."

Meanwhile, in the west part of Beijing, the Tuanchenghu Regulating Reservoir is also in its final stage of preparations.

Hua Quanli is chief engineer of the reservoir.

"We have gone through a series of tests on machines and equipment, as well as checks on water leakage and water storage. The regulating reservoir has already met the requirements of receiving water from the south."

The reservoir will play a pivotal role in providing west Beijing with water, with the capacity to store over 1 million cubic meters of water.

China's massive south-to-north water diversion project is designed to take water from the Yangtze river system, to meet water shortages in the north. The water will flow northward via an eastern, a middle and a western route.

Started in 2002, the construction of the middle route is expected to complete by the end of this year.

For CRI, this is Wang Mengzhen