Rush for bottled water continues in Shanghai

Shanghai residents are still rushing to buy bottled water, despite assurances from authorities there that tap water is safe to drink.

The Jinshan district's environmental protection bureau said earlier that it found some samples of river water in the area that did not meet safety standards.

Later the authorities said the water was safe to drink.

"Samples from 16 monitoring sites showed that the quality returned to normal," said a notice on the district's website on June 5.

"To better ensure stable quality, the district's water facilities changed its water intake starting on Monday, and added activated carbon powder into the water," it added.

However, store owners said that customers are still exhausting their stocks of bottled water.

"All the brands have been out of stock for the past three days. The situation in bigger retailers is even worse," said Zhang Liang, who works at the Jiadeli Supermarket.

Wu Jinmei, a 54-year-old resident, said she is still drinking mineral water. "I still worry about the quality of tap water," she said.

Meanwhile, the environmental protection bureau said it is still monitoring the water quality.

"The city's water authority is looking for the pollution source and will take specific measures," said a spokeswoman who gave her name only as Xu.