Experts have recently highlighted that pollution is one of the main alarming issues that is affecting China, worsening rural Chinese water supply crisis. Many environmentalist groups have analyzed this situation focusing on rural villages used to have their own wells, typically around 12 meters deep. According to the studies, coal mining has significantly modified the local geology, reducing the amount of ground water available. A recent survey undertaken by a Beijing-based environmental group has shown the condition of villages outlining severe problems of water scarcity and pollution. The majority of these villages were located in the provinces of Henan in the north, and Anhui in central China. The survey has revealed that water related issues have significantly accelerated problems as migration, turning some villagers into environmental migrants, compelling people to buy expensive bottled water. The team of research has undertaken various kind of tests on water samples, including sensory, physical and chemical checks, and tests for overall water hardness, and levels of heavy metals, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites and hydrides: the outcome shows that the majority of the samples did not meet the minimum standards. According to data from 2004, pollution caused by local geological conditions represents a widespread problem in rural areas. In this context, more than 90 million people are suffering from drinking water contaminated with fluoride, arsenic or salts. Additionally, new industrial sources of contamination are playing a crucial role, worsening the condition of rural water supplies, researchers say. Moreover, these villages, affected by industrial pollution, need to face other challenging problems such as agricultural pollution of land and rivers, pollution from aquaculture, natural geological sources of pollution and landfill sites. Industrial pollution, permeating deeply into the ground over a long period, is strongly damaging the surface, contaminating the local geology. In this framework, experts argue that this phenomenon stresses the importance for villages to preserve sources of good quality water, and the urgency to establish adequate mechanisms for instance installing water purifiers, in order to address the main environmental challenges. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Saturday, 09 August 2014 (Source: ChinaDialogue)