Water regulations to curb pollution

Beijing's illegal sewage producers will soon face harsher penalties as local legislature mulls stricter standards for water treatment in the capital.

Lawmakers yesterday reviewed a draft regulation on water pollution control at the last legislative meeting of the Beijing municipal people's congress this year. Emitters, including hundreds of small-scale factories in Beijing, will pay a punitive fine of up to five times their annual sewage treatment fees if they fall short of environmental standards, according to the draft.

The new draft also bans water treatment plants from dumping sewage mud, the remains of water pollutants which will further pollute the soil, and forbids farms that let out waste water without treatment. All recycled water used for civil purposes must also meet national standards, the draft says.