Lanzhou ends emergency water supply to three districts

Lanzhou city in northwest China's Gansu province has called off emergency water supply to three districts. The local government says water tests have found the tap water safe there again.

Crude oil leak from a petro-chemical pipeline contaminated the water source for a local water plant, which put hazardous levels of benzene, a carcingenic compound, into the city's tap water from Friday morning, affecting 2.4 million people. Lanzhou government warned residents not to drink the tap water for 24 hours until 11 a.m. Saturday.

By Saturday afternoon, the environmental monitoring department determined that no benzene is found in samples from Cheng-guan and Qi-li-he districts. And by Sunday night, officials declared the water safe for An-ning district.

There are still traces of benzene, however, in water samples taken in Xi-gu district, and the government recommends people not to drink the tap water.