Taihu Lake in Wuxi boasts best water quality over 15 years

Taihu Lake in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province in 2022 boasted the best water quality over the past 15 years, the latest statistics showed.

Taihu Lake is the third largest freshwater lake in China and has a surface area of about 2,338 square kilometers. Administered by Jiangsu, it stretches across Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

All of the 13 main rivers running into the lake were qualified for centralized drinking water, while the southern part of the lake became the only with delined nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.

Gonghu Bay is the barometer of Taihu Lake's water quality.

"Gonghu Bay used to be severely polluted," said Lu Yaqi, curator of the Wuxi Wetland Ecological Science Museum. "By growing underwater forests, Gonghu Bay has met the centralized drinking water standard."

With the improvement of Taihu Lake's water and increased wetlands, Wuxi has become a gathering place for different birds.

For example, Daxigang Wetland Park is now home to more than 100 species of wild birds, including Chinese egrets and curly-feathered pelicans.

Since 2007, Wuxi has invested more than 100 billion yuan ($14.84 billion) to treat Taihu Lake. Last year, the city implemented more than 200 projects worth over 10 billion yuan and this year, it will continue investing 11 billion yuan to treat the lake.