Animal waste a threat to clean water supply

Suzhou, Jiangsu - The massive increase of animal waste coming from the livestock industry has become a main source of water pollution in the country, environmental researchers have warned.

Citing China's first national census of pollution sources released in February this year, Zhang Qingfeng, a leading water resources management expert at Asian Development Bank, said agriculture is responsible for up to 67 percent of the 423,200 tons of phosphorus discharged and 57 percent of the 4.7 million tons of nitrogen discharged into water.

Livestock and poultry are major sources of agricultural pollution and have caused a series of water pollution incidents in the country, Zhang said on Wednesday.