Smiles return as water worries ease in Ningxia

The story of how Chinese people succeeded in easing anxiety over water resources in barren areas of Xihaigu, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, impressed the audience at the UN 2023 Water Conference recently.

The 1.14 million rural residents of Xihaigu once faced a serious lack of water, and the Ningxia government attached great importance to improving people's livelihoods. Since 2010, it began to build water-related facilities — factories and tunnels at large scale — to introduce water from the Yellow River and Jinghe River. It established a water supply network, said Du Chao, general manager of TusHoldings Internet of Water Tech Co, speaking at the conference in New York, which was held from March 22 to 24.

In 2016, Pengyang county in Xihaigu cooperated with several universities and companies to create an innovative water supply system governed by digital tools, giving rural residents access to quality water.

The company integrated new-generation information technologies including the internet of things, cloud computing, edge computing and big data. It connected one big water source, two large water plants and 92 relay plants (detention ponds or supply ponds). It connected 7,466 water meter chambers to more than 43,000 households in Pengyang county to the system.