Quenching the Thirst

Song Zihan, a mother of two living in Beijing’s Fengtai District, remembers that years ago she had to clean the kettle on a regular basis because of the thick incrustation hiding inside, formed from boiling water in it. Also, the rice she cooked with tap water always tasted a bit “off.” “After the South-to-North Water Diversion Project went into operation, I have witnessed the changes in water quality. I bought a new kettle when the water from down south came all the way up to Beijing; a year later, it still looked brand new,” Song told Beijing Review.

Beijing is among those northern cities plagued