Shifengxi River in Tiantai county, Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: tzfb001]

Taizhou was ranked sixth in China and first in East China's Zhejiang province in a national appraisal of performance in improving surface water quality in the first half of this year.

According to the evaluation results released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the proportion of the surface water from 14 sampled places in Taizhou with quality classified as Grade III or above was 85.7 percent, 14.3 percentage points higher than the same period of 2021. Grade III is the third-highest level in a five-tier quality system for water in China.

The authorities' concerted efforts to tackle water pollution have played a big part in the improvement. For example, Taizhou has eliminated sewage discharge in over 123 residential compounds and nine industrial parks.

In addition, the government has explored the application of smart technologies in water management. More than 2,000 problems related to water pollution have been identified in the city and over 80 percent of them have been solved.