China students must pay extra for 'excessive' toilet flushing

23rd of September 2016
China students must pay extra for 'excessive' toilet flushing

The flushing of toilets at a Chinese college is to be rationed in a bid to conserve water.

Students at the Kunming Health Vocational College in China's Yunnan province are each being allocated 3,000 litres of water per month. This is available on a preloaded card that must be swiped every time they use the toilet. And if they exceed their quota, they will have to pay an unspecified extra sum.

The Yunnan province - situated in south-west China - has been troubled by droughts since 2009. The move to ration toilet-flushing has been a major topic of conversation on China's microblogging site Weibo since the move was announced.

Critics of the policy are concerned that students will attempt to avoid being charged for excess water use by refraining from flushing the toilets at all towards the end of the month. This could lead to bad smells and unsanitary toilets, it is claimed.

However, a teacher at the college has responded to these concerns by asserting that the 3,000 litre ration should be more than enough for everyday use and that the system will encourage students to conserve water.

Yunnan has an annual wet season when monsoons bring plenty of rain. However, rainfall is unevenly spread and water shortages tend to occur during the dry winter and spring seasons.

The recent droughts are harming the region's vulnerable economy: agriculture and forestry are being particularly badly hit with cash crops such as sugar cane and coffee being lost.

 

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