Clear water gushes from the spillways of the Xin'an River Reservoir in East China's Zhejiang province, July 8. [Photo/IC]

When the Xin'an River Reservoir, an important flood control project in the upper reaches of the Qiantang River in East China's Zhejiang province, opened all nine of its spillways to relieve local flooding on July 8, many were amazed by the extremely clear water that gushed from its spillways.

This clearness can be largely attributed to Zhejiang's efforts to eliminate sewage, prevent waterlogging, ensure a sufficient water supply, and reduce water consumption. The Zhejiang provincial government began making these efforts at the end of 2013 and has been strictly adhering to them since then.

Over 620 billion yuan ($89 billion) has been invested into these efforts since 2014.

To curb water pollution, Zhejiang has been putting heavy emphasis on industrial restructuring. For example, to eliminate pollution in the Puyang River near Pujiang county, Jinhua, local authorities closed down nearly 20,000 crystal processing mills, or 90 percent of such mills operating in the county.

Pujiang was once filled with small manufacturers of crystal products, accounting for over 80 percent of national crystal production. The crystal industry made locals rich, but they also had to endure the province's most heavily polluted river.

After closing down the mills, Pujiang invested two billion yuan ($287 million) into the establishment of four crystal industry parks to better manage and control pollution. As a result, the once polluted Puyang River has become clear once again, while the industrial output of the county's crystal industry has increased by 24 percent.

As of the end of 2019, Zhejiang had rectified 135,000 enterprises that weren't meeting environmental protection standards, identified 14,000 enterprises with outdated production facilities, and removed more than 400,000 unqualified farms.

The province has now completely eliminated Grade V polluted water bodies, and the overall water quality in the province is now rated as good.