90% cities face underground water pollution

The news service said the pollution in north China is more serious than that of the southern regions, and the pollution causes direct economic looses of tens of billion yuan, or billionsof U.S. dollars, every year, not to mention "countless" indirect losses.

In the next 25 years, China's water situation will face enormous pressure under a new round of economic growth. It will bea key period whether China can limit the deterioration of water quality, Zhang was quoted as saying.

Underground water is the source of drinking water for nearly 70 percent of China's population and is the source of some 40 percent of the country's agricultural irrigation