Inspections prompt better water quality

Intensive inspections of drinking water supplies - mainly in reservoirs - have proved effective, with inspectors finding that about half the violations uncovered in visits three months ago have been rectified, according to the top environmental authority.

Inspectors checked 265 previous violations involving 60 bodies of water in eight provincial-level regions in northern China, including Shandong and Shanxi provinces and Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, at the weekend.

"None of the violations has failed to make progress in rectification," the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a statement released on Tuesday.