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In a country so polluted that many athletes wore masks while competing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Chinese environmentalist and water-pollution expert Ma Jun has become an eco hero and bringer of reforms. Author of China’s Water Crisis, a book that revolutionized the country’s understanding of water pollution, Jun has gained the attention and praise of environmentalists, journalists and scientists around the globe.

In 2006, Time magazine named Jun as one of the world’s most influential people and compared the effects of his book in China to those of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in America. Jun is also one of six recipients of the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award (known as the "Nobel of Asia"). Despite his nation’s struggle with immense overpopulation, poverty, government corruption and constant health-code and human-rights violations, Jun has managed to produce an effective wake-up call and taken major steps in exposing and alleviating the water crisis in his country.

China’s Water Issues
China’s problems with water fall into two main areas: availability and pollution.

The country has nearly the same amount of water as Canada, yet a population 100 times greater. Nearly half of China’s major cities face regular water shortages. Not only does the country have little water, but also poor management. Eighty percent of China’s water is used in agriculture, and nearly half of this evaporates or leaks. In addition to affecting health, the mismanagement hurts the economy: “Shortages in cities cause a loss of an estimated $11.2 billion in industrial output, while the impact of water pollution on human health has been valued at approximately $3.9 billion by Chinese sources.”

Even where water is available, it’s often far from its ideal form. Every single body of water and watershed in China contains unacceptable amounts of pollutants, including excrement (a standard pollutant) and more modern forms like toxic chemicals. Contributing to the high levels are the inadequate water- and waste-treatment systems. “Only 5% of household waste and 17% of industrial waste received any treatment as of 1996,” according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Chinese government officials. Half of China’s population consumes drinking water contaminated with levels of animal and human waste higher than the permissible amounts. (This also begs the question: are there permissible amounts?)

Diseases linked to the consumption of excrement-polluted water, such as diarrheal diseases and viral hepatitis are the country’s leading infectious diseases. China has the highest rates of liver and stomach cancers, which have also been linked to polluted water, and the rates are three to seven times higher in contaminated rural areas than in cleaner places.

Ma Jun to the Rescue
A former journalist, Ma Jun was one of the first to recognize and reveal the dire state of his country’s water supplies. He currently directs China’s Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and led the Institute’s creation of the nation’s first public database of water pollution.

Jun also faults government corruption for enabling polluters: “To protect water resources, we need to encourage public participation and strengthen law enforcement. In some places, polluting factories and companies are being protected by local governments and officials.”

By drawing attention to the water-pollution crisis and by encouraging citizen participation, Jun is not only a hero for China, but also an inspiration to us all.

Additional resources:
Ma Jun: Time Magazine Profile
The Environment and China Water and Air Pollution: Water and Health

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