Water, washing machines and climate change

Since late December, I've been watching TV reports from Ningxia and Shaanxi in the northwest, as well as Guizhou and Guangxi in the south, showing farmers enjoying the benefits of clean tap water.

Thanks to the national clean water project, millions of rural people are now able to wash their faces and their vegetables by simply turning a spigot. Clearly, clean tap water has improved their lives. In Zhongyuan village in Guizhou, farmers had to spend hours fetching water from a mountainous area miles away from home.

Nationwide, the clean water project has saved an average rural household an astounding 53 days per year. Freed from the drudgery of hauling water, rural people are now able to spend more time on productive work, either at home or in nearby cities. Even where farmers did not haul water themselves, the project has changed their lives. In Ningxia, it has saved rural families an average of 300 yuan a year, money they once spent on water.