Beijing gets thirstier with water price increases

More water hikes appear to be in the works for the Chinese capital of Beijing, which is already trying to conserve its scare supply.

The head of Beijing's water resources bureau, Cheng Jing, recently announced the Northern China metropolis is expected to put together plans to raise its rates in the next two months. The city’s water hike, in an effort to promote conservation, will be the fifth since 2001 (see China’s water prices ticking up).

Beijing, located in the water system of the Hai River, already faces water limits, heightened by its fast industrialization pace, wasteful irrigation projects and pollution of the region’s underground water tables.

The city is under pressure to cut back because of the five-year postponement of a project that was expected to import 1 billion cubic meters (264 U.S. gallons) of water a year to the capital from the Yangtze River.

The reason behind the delay may be related to water redistribution and relocation of residents along a channel expected to link Central China’s Hubei province with Beijing, Tianjin and neighboring provinces.

The capital isn’t alone in its dilemma, as many analysts say the days of cheap water are over. The developing world is struggling to provide usable water to its residents, while water shortages in the developed world have put a new focus on expensive technologies from companies such as IBM (see Cleantech panel: The days of cheap water are over).

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