Previous: The mountain is difficult to draft, but there are two casings
Guizhou suffers from long-term engineering water shortage due to special environment such as karst landforms.
Since 1997, Guizhou has invested more than 22.6 billion yuan in the construction of rural drinking water projects, of which more than 7 billion yuan has been invested in special funds since 2016, and people in mountainous areas have gradually bid farewell to "water from the sky" and "water covered by houses".
However, a reporter from Banyuetan found that in some rural areas of Guizhou, villagers provided one set of drinking water facilities themselves, while the government built a set.
"Two-pronged approach", serious idle waste
Shuicheng District, Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province is located in the rocky desertification area of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guizhou.
Reporter Banyuetan visited several villages in Yingpan, Miao, Yi and Bai Township, Shuicheng District, and found that local villagers have both their own water sources and government-built drinking water projects.
A villager in Haqing Village, Yingpan Township, said that the water used at home now comes from a self-provided water source not far away.
Next to the dining table at home, there is another water intake system, which was connected by the government a few years ago. "The faucet has been installed for three or four years, and it has never been used."
Coincidentally.
Lao Liang, a villager in Bainiu Village, Yangmei, Yi, Miao, and Hui Township in Shuicheng District, told reporters Banyuetan that he was in a group of about 30 households.
Another villager posted a drinking water safety awareness card at the door, showing "centralized water supply". The reporter turned on the water meter on the spot to check, and the count scale was "1".
In Ziyun Miao and Buyi Autonomous County, Wangmo County and other rural areas, many villagers have two sets of water supply systems in their homes. Self-provided water sources are often used, and government projects are basically not used.
In some villagers' homes, the water meter count scale is still in single digits, and the tonnage of "0" or "1" is also common.
Due to the long-term idleness of government projects, many water pipes and water meters and other equipment are gradually worn out and damaged, and the water pipes and water meters installed in some villagers' homes have been "incomplete".
In Xingjin Village, Daying Town, Ziyun County, the faucet installed by the government was connected to the door of Lao Shi's house, and the faucet switch has been removed and placed at home. A water pipe was found, but the water meter disappeared. In Gujiao Town, Longli County, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, some villagers buried the water supply equipment installed by the government because of housing construction and other reasons. There are spots, and the data can only be read after wiping.
Three reasons for long-term idleness
Banyuetan reporter learned from an interview that the main reasons for the idleness of drinking water facilities in rural Guizhou are as follows.
First, most villagers are used to using their own water sources.
In some areas, villagers reported that it took several years for them to raise funds to connect the tap water before the government laid water pipes and installed water meters.
"We have water ourselves, why should we use the water from the government?" Some villagers believe that if the villagers' opinions are consulted and the project construction funds are used for the maintenance and management of the self-provided water source, the result will be safe to drink and manage well.
Second, some farmers think the water is not clean.
When a reporter Banyuetan was conducting research in the mountainous areas of Shuicheng District and Ziyun County, he randomly turned on the taps connected by the government, and the water that flowed out turned black and yellow. It took about 20 seconds to see slightly clear water.
The villagers reported that on the one hand, it was caused by not using it for a long time, on the other hand, the purification treatment was not in place and the water was not clean.
In the house of Lao Bao, a villager in Luoduo Village, Yingpan Township, Shuicheng District, the water in the white bucket was yellow. She said, "How dare you drink such water."
Third, some villagers are unwilling to pay water fees.
The rural drinking water project makes water a commodity, which makes it difficult for the mountain people to accept it in a short period of time.
They said that the ancestors never wanted money for drinking water, so why do they still charge water fees now?
Because they have to collect money, the villagers do not use the water brought in by the government, but usually use the water drawn from the mountains.
Banyuetan reporters found during their research that in some areas, villagers spontaneously organized to collect water, raise money to build pools and lay water pipes. Usually, only three and five households need to form a water pipe unit, and proper maintenance can ensure that clean water enters the tank.
In Qingma Village, Pingzhai Yi Township, Shuicheng District, a villager Lao Zhou told Banyuetan reporters that the drinking water project built by the government was connected to water two years ago, but it costs two yuan per ton of water.
In contrast, his family has always used its own water source, and the old couple is at home with little water and no need to pay water bills.
Banyuetan reporter visited many villages, and the villagers said, "Don't say two yuan a ton, even five cents will not be paid."
Mountain water supply, high cost
From the production point of view, the cost of centralized water supply in the mountainous areas of Guizhou is relatively high.
From the water source to the water plant and then to each household, clean, hygienic, and up-to-standard water needs to be invested in electricity, medicine consumption, pipes, pumps, labor, maintenance, etc. The maximum cost is about 10 yuan per ton, and the minimum is about two or three yuan.
One is the high cost of water.
Guizhou is a typical "big funnel" in the south, and it is difficult to store and fetch water.
Weng'an County, located in the middle reaches of the Wujiang River and the hinterland of central Guizhou, has invested over 300 million yuan in rural drinking water.
In Machangping Village, Houchang Town, after the government built the drinking water project, it was managed by the villagers' association.
Water manager Su Chaokui introduced that in 2021, the association will charge 49,000 yuan for water and 23,000 yuan for electricity.
Second, the cost of water delivery is high.
In the mountainous areas of Guizhou, the mountains are tall and sparsely populated, and the transportation of water is a major project.
The rural population of Wangmo County in the Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of southwestern Guizhou is about 150,000, and there are nearly 3,500 kilometers of water pipelines.
9,110 kilometers of pipelines were laid in Shuicheng District, and the cost of pipe procurement, installation, pipeline burial, and earthwork excavation totaled 620 million yuan.
Third, the investment in management and maintenance is relatively high.
In order to maintain the operation of water supply projects, rural areas in Guizhou generally employ former registered households as water managers, with a monthly salary of 800 yuan.
In addition, professional plumbers must be hired.
For example, in the Shuicheng District, due to the wide range of drinking water projects, each village needs one or two water managers, and there are 396 people in the whole district, and their wages are a lot of money.
Working together to ensure sustainable water supply
The sustainability of management and protection funds is also a topic of general concern at the grassroots level.
Since 2019, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Finance have arranged a central subsidy fund of 3.96 billion yuan for the maintenance and maintenance of rural water supply projects, increasing support and giving appropriate subsidies to special areas, special projects and special groups with outstanding difficulties to promote the normal operation of the project.
Water officials worry about the sustainability of this funding.
Banyuetan reporter learned that some impoverished counties have increased local debts due to the construction of drinking water projects.
Water officials generally believe that although centralized drinking water projects take public interest as the primary consideration, water companies or water plants cannot be in a state of loss for a long time.
They expect all parties to make efforts to achieve both public interests and economic benefits.
First, reduce production costs, such as reducing electricity bills and testing fees.
There is generally no discount for water supply and electricity in rural areas of Guizhou, and the cost of electricity accounts for about 40% of the cost of water supply. Because of this, some counties along the Wujiang River no longer draw water from the Wujiang River.
In addition, the cost of testing is not low.
A person in charge of the water quality testing station of Guizhou Water Weng'an Co., Ltd. introduced that in order to ensure water quality, the company usually adopts self-inspection and third-party testing, and the latter alone costs about 150,000 yuan per year.
Secondly, "pay for water" should be publicized and popularized for a long time.
Water officials and professionals introduced that although self-provided water sources in mountainous areas are free, there may be hidden dangers in water quality, especially in places with excessive metals, which require treatment before drinking. It is necessary to advocate drinking "clean water" that has been treated by scientific methods.
Wen Jingyou, director of Weng'an County Water Affairs Bureau, said that in addition to participating in project construction and management, water cadres and water managers need to use appropriate forms to often popularize the concept of healthy drinking water to the people in the mountainous areas, so as to solve the problem of "paying for water".
Next: Looking at this kind of water, I am a little scared to drink it
The water in the white bucket turned yellow, and a layer of yellow mud was deposited at the bottom of the bucket—this is the scene that Banyuetan reporters saw in Luoduo Village, Yingpan Miao, Yi and Bai Township, Shuicheng District, Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province.
In a villager's home, the hostess told reporter Banyuetan that although the bucket of water had been settling for more than 10 days, she still did not dare to drink it.
Since 2016, Guizhou Province has invested a total of more than 7 billion yuan in special funds, and the centralized water supply project covers more than 35.88 million people, solving the problems of difficult and unsafe drinking water for many people.
The reporter Banyuetan visited rural areas in Shuicheng District, Ziyun Miao and Buyi Autonomous County and other places and found that the water delivered by some water supply projects is turbid to the naked eye, and the villagers dare not drink it.
Because of this, many villagers still use their own water sources, which makes the rural drinking water projects built by the government idle and wasteful.
Poor water quality, what is the reason?
Reporter Banyuetan's investigation found that inadequate protection of water sources and non-standard use of disinfection facilities and equipment are the main reasons for the poor water quality of some drinking water projects in rural Guizhou.
In a drinking water source near the road in Jixiping Village, Yingpan Township, there are no blocking measures around, and people and animals can enter at will.
Although a cistern has a green iron protective isolation net, it has been in disrepair and crumbled for a long time and cannot function properly.
Some villagers said that the environment and water quality of the water source area may be damaged regardless of human destruction or the random access of livestock.
In addition, in some places, there are still problems such as not carrying out the disinfection process in strict accordance with the standards, and the disinfection facilities are useless.
In Dongnao Village, Na Town, Suburban of Wangmo County, the operation instructions are posted on the disinfection facilities supporting the rural centralized water supply project, but they are not locked and can be opened easily.
In a high-level pool in Naliang Village, Mashan Town, the county, the lock was only tied with a wooden stick.
In order to ensure water quality, the rural drinking water project in Guizhou is equipped with special water managers. The reporter Banyuetan found that most of the water managers are local poverty alleviation households, with poor professional technical ability and insufficient water management ability.
The relevant person in charge of the Weng'an County Center for Disease Control and Prevention introduced that due to the lack of responsibility of some water plant managers, they did not continuously dose the drugs according to the amount, resulting in poor water disinfection effect.
Lao Cen, a villager in Naliang Village, used to be a registered householder. In 2020, he was hired as a water manager in the village, mainly responsible for reading water meters and maintaining water pipes.
The county water affairs department organizes them at least once a year to conduct training on how to put disinfectants and maintenance of the pipe network.
When a reporter from Banyuetan asked him about the frequency of drug delivery, he only said that "disinfecting tablets are given 3 times a year", and the specific delivery standards and usual water quality observation indicators are not clear.
The "Summary of Drinking Water Quality and Hygiene Monitoring in Dry Season in 2021" provided by the Weng'an County Center for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned that all monitoring points in the county are equipped with disinfection facilities, but most of the disinfection facilities have not been put into use normally due to different problems. Most of the water treatment facilities are imperfect, and most of them only rely on manual drug delivery for disinfection.
The detection and monitoring are not standardized, and the forcing effect needs to be strengthened
According to relevant regulations, water supply units, local ecological environment departments and health administrative departments should strengthen coordination and regularly supervise and monitor the quality of water sources, pipe network water, and peripheral water.
However, some local collaborative supervision mechanisms are not fully utilized.
A reporter from Banyuetan visited some schools in Guizhou and found that some principals in charge of safety work in primary schools did not know whether the water in schools was safe to meet the standards.
At the same time, the cost of water quality testing is too high and the grassroots testing capacity is limited, which also brings difficulties to water quality testing.
According to the requirements of relevant national indicators, water plants are required to carry out at least one quality inspection of the factory water every year.
Ding Jiahua, director of the water quality testing station of Guizhou Water Weng'an Co., Ltd., introduced that in order to ensure the safety of drinking water, the testing station hired 10 testing personnel to conduct regular testing on the pipe network water and peripheral water, and also invited a third-party testing company to conduct annual testing of the factory water. For a full water quality analysis, the total annual water quality testing fee is about 200,000 yuan.
Sinan County No. 3 Water Plant was put into operation in September 2019, with a total investment of 87 million yuan. It is equipped with water treatment facilities such as flocculation tanks and sedimentation tanks, as well as laboratories such as water quality analysis rooms and microbiology rooms. 37,100 people in towns and towns such as Liangshuijing and Liangshuijing provided drinking water.
Li Fei, the director of the factory, said that the water quality testing equipment of the factory has been fully equipped, but the company is still waiting for the company to hire professional inspectors.
Banyuetan reporters saw at the scene that most of these devices were idle.
In 2021, the Wangmo County Center for Disease Control and Prevention will monitor 12 rural drinking water safety project monitoring points during the wet season and the dry season.
According to a person in charge of the Laboratory Department of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are currently 11 staff in the Laboratory Department, but they are all majors in clinical medical laboratory testing.
Affected by the epidemic in the past two years, it is necessary to arrange personnel to carry out nucleic acid testing, and the manpower is stretched.
Respondents believe that water quality testing and monitoring is not standardized and rigorous, and cannot form a high-quality inverse effect on the entire process of water collection, disinfection, and diversion.
The monitoring of functional departments is mainly to supervise and supervise. If there is a problem with water quality, it should be reported to the law enforcement department for disposal; the testing carried out by water plants and third-party testing agencies is mainly to force "water production quality". strengthen.
Source: "Ban Yue Tan" Issue 6, 2022