Beijing warns of lake algae a year before Olympics

BEIJING, Aug 16 (Reuters) China's capital, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, warned today that heat had put some of its lakes at risk of algae blooms, similar to those that have cut water supplies elsewhere in the country.

In late May, an algae bloom in China's third biggest lake cut off water supplies to over 2 million residents of Wuxi city in the eastern province of Jiangsu and there have been smaller outbreaks since.

''Beijing is facing its eighth consecutive year of drought... Rivers and lakes do not have enough water supplies, which makes it hard to refresh them,'' Jiao Zhizhong, chief of Beijing's water authority, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.

The city's summer heat had put some lakes at risk of algae blooms, the newspaper added.

The Beijing Times reported that large algae blooms had hit a city reservoir, but the water authority rejected the report, the China Daily said.

Algae blooms develop in water rich in nutrients, often because of run-off from heavy fertiliser use, industrial runoff and untreated sewage -- all pollutants in ready supply in many parts of China.

Workers in Wuxi, a city that stretches 142 km along the giant Tai Lake, were still clearing up blue algae and other floating garbage to improve water quality, the newspaper said.

REUTERS TB HT1032