Shanghai water supply and wastewater disposal

Water quality is becoming an increasing problem as Shanghai expands. Substandard water is directly related to inadequate wastewater-treatment processes that allow water to return to the Huangpu River, the main source of freshwater. The middle and lower portions of the river are especially contaminated. Governmental solutions have focused on discharge of untreated wastewater directly into offshore areas and diversion of relatively good water from the upstream portion of the Huangpu to intake-treatment plants near population concentrations.