Save water in all ways

The importance of water conservation can never be overestimated for China, whose water resources per capita are about one-fourth the world average.

Little wonder that the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released guidelines last week for charging residents in all cities tiered prices for water use by 2015.

With two-thirds of China's cities suffering from an insufficient supply of water and one-fourth suffering a serious water shortage, increasing residents' awareness of the need to save water is long overdue.