The Qijiang River.[File photo/Zhongshan Daily]

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently released the surface water quality report for March and the first quarter of 2019. In addition, MEE also for the first time announced the assessment rankings on surface water quality of prefecture-level and above cities for the first quarter. Zhongshan ranks third in China and first in Guangdong with an accepted range of -54.70%.

It is known from the Zhongshan Ecological Environment Bureau that the city has implemented a river water quality monitoring network and systematic pollution control projects with the goal of improving water quality.

Based on hands-on river monitoring, Zhongshan is promoting the automatic monitoring platform which focuses on river water quality. The project covers the construction of "Automatic Monitoring Stations", "Water Quality Management Systems" and "Water Environment Monitoring Centers". Most of the bidding is over with, and the location of 259 automatic stations have been determined. The project will see the construction of a water environment monitoring and control network covering the whole city. This monitoring and control network will be utilized to grasp the water quality of the entire river basin in a comprehensive and real-time manner.

In the middle of May, the Zhongshan Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau will announce the ranking of water quality for the first quarter of 2019. The water quality and changes of 24 towns and districts will be listed. The aim was to force them to speed up the administration and cleaning of dirty and smelly (below standard) water within their own area.