BEIJING, July 13 -- Discharges from various industries into the Dianchi, Chaohu and Taihu Lake basins will be lowered due to spreading algae that feeds on chemical-rich pollutants.

    Effluent thresholds have been raised for the iron and steel, iron alloy, coking, calcium carbide copper smelting and auto-making industries, said the nation's top environmental official, to stop degradation and improve water quality.

    Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), told a meeting on protecting lake quality held in East China's Anhui Province on Thursday that projects from those five industries without sufficient pollution prevention and treatment systems will be suspended.

    Approval of new projects that have the potential to release heavy metals, nitrogen, phosphorus and organic pollutants is now forbidden, Zhou added.

    A group of small factories for papermaking, brewing, chemical production, textile making and dyeing, will be closed down by 2010.

    Zhou said pollution emissions in lakes will be strictly inspected. At the end of this year, factories unable to meet on pollution standards will be shut down.

    After a one-year grace period, in 2008 all industries in the three lake basins will need to hold a license issued by the environmental watchdog, Zhou said.

    SEPA made the decision following a large-scale outbreak of blue and green algae this summer in China's big freshwater lakes - Taihu and Chaohu in East China and Dianchi in Southwest China - which threatened the source of drinking water for local residents.

    Blue and green algae grow rapidly in water overly rich in nutrition, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. SEPA is making it mandatory for wastewater treatment plants in the lake regions to upgrade their equipment to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus levels. Technological improvements are scheduled for completion in June 2008 at Taihu Lake and at the end of 2010 in other lake basins.

    Not only industries, but also agriculture and fishing are included in the campaign for cleaner water.

    SEPA will also control the amount of fertilizer used in the lake basins. Rural areas around Taihu Lake have also become part of the first pilot project in the countryside to construct treatment facilities.

    Nets for fish farming in the three lakes were ordered to be removed by the end of 2008 to avoid introducing fish food into the water that increases nitrogen levels.

    To support the central government's decision, local governments have also mapped out their plans.

    Yunnan Province will fund 8.4 billion yuan in 2010 to treat Dianchi Lake water. Cities around Taihu Lake said they will spend 3 percent of their gross domestic product every year for water treatment.

    (Source: China Daily)