Sewage disposal a big headache

Raw sewage in rural areas not only threatens water quality and public health but is also hampering a campaign to improve the countryside, a Ministry of Construction official says.

Zhao Hui , the head of the ministry's countryside construction efforts, said China had yet to treat residential sewage in rural areas, a main challenge to the campaign of improving villagers' lives.

Meanwhile, his colleague in charge of urban planning, Zhang Yue , said that despite heavy government investment in urban sewage treatment plants in recent years, the disposal rate remained far lower than expected.