Harbin, a city of 10 million people in northeast China, is without water for at least four days, possibly due to major contamination caused by an explosion in a chemical factory.
The city government shut off the municipal water supply on November 21, saying there would be no city-supplied water for the next four days because the city was “performing maintenance on the water system.”
On November 22nd, the city's official website stated that the cut-off was due to a “chemical plant explosion which could cause water pollution in upstream water sources.”
On November 23, the Harbin city government amended the website, saying an explosion at the Jilin Petroleum Benzene Production Plant, owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) may have caused contamination in the Songari River. There was no mention of when the water would be turned back on. The phrase “The water in the Songari River near Harbin has been found normal” was removed from the previous announcement.
According to Time magazine, Harbin residents were panicked by the government's inconsistent announcements and started hoarding food and water. Drinking water in Wal-marts in Harbin City was sold out in a few hours.
In the afternoon of November 22, water was shut off in all residential area, hospitals and schools.
