The Stream, April 17: China to Close Water-Polluting Businesses

The Global Rundown

China is cracking down on polluting businesses in a bid to turn around the country’s water quality problem, and Mozambique is blaming changing floodplains on climate change. Des Moines is treating nitrates in its water supply. Rural women are being encouraged to start water treatment businesses.

“Females are our best entrepreneurs. They are our best stewards of money, they are our best advocates. Men tend to take more risks with the money.” — Minhaj Chowdhury, CEO of Drinkwell Systems, a company providing rural women with the means to make money and make their communities safer by treating and selling water. (Reuters)

By The Numbers

70 percent – Portion of water in major river basins that China hopes will be suitable for drinking by 2020. China’s cabinet announced a plan Thursday to shut down several polluting businesses in order to clean up the country’s water. Wall Street Journal

500,000 – Number of Iowa residents who are now paying to have nitrates removed from their water during treatment. Regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act have forced the Des Moines Water Works to implement removal processes due to high levels of nitrates in the source waters of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers, an extra treatment cost that will be carried by the public. KCCI Des Moines

Science, Studies, And Reports

The National Institute of Disaster Management in Mozambique is blaming climate change for expanding flood plains in the country. Flood maps just 7 years old are out of date and have had to be redrawn. This year alone, tens of thousands of Mozambicans were left homeless by seasonal flooding. Bloomberg

On The Radar

Drinkwell Systems, a social enterprise based in the United States, is encouraging rural women overseas to become clean water entrepreneurs. The company has developed a system to treat water containing high levels of heavy metals, and is selling the system to women in rural communities so that these women may in turn sell clean water to their fellow villagers, providing income for their families and reducing the number of deaths by water pollution. Reuters