Jiangsu to Improve Taihu Lake Water Quality   

Factories located in Taihu Lake area, a major body of fresh water in eastern China, will have to pay high fees for discharging pollutants from 2008, learning lessons from a serious algae outbreak at the end of May 2007.
    Chemical plants should pay RMB10.5 for each kilogram of COD (chemical oxygen demand), a major index to measure pollution, according to a pollution payment plan made by the Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau.
    The prices of COD per kg are set at RMB5.2, RMB1.8 and RMB2.3 for dyeing, paper-making and brewing factories, respectively, the plan says.
   "The high prices will force polluting companies to upgrade their treatment facilities and reduce waste," said an official of Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau.
    According to the official, the plan will first cover 266 key polluting factories near the lake. Based on the practice, fees will also be imposed for the discharge of other pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from 2009.