Guangdong produced more than 100 million tonnes of additional waste water last year compared with the previous year, raising concerns about the impact on rivers, where three quarters of the province's waste water was discharged.
A report on the quality of Guangdong's water resources for 2011, compiled by the provincial department of water resources, said more than 12.5 billion tonnes of waste water - 55 per cent of which was industrial, while the rest was domestic sewage - was produced across Guangdong, the Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.
Though it said about 75 per cent of the discharged water had been flushed into the province's rivers, the report did not say how much of the waste water had been properly treated beforehand.
Four cities in the Pearl River Delta - Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Foshan - discharged most of the waste water last year, at more than 500 million tonnes each.
More than 66 per cent of the province's water from industrial uses was in the delta - the manufacturing hub for the province.
The report said fewer than 40 per cent of the rivers and lakes the department monitored met water quality standards.
