Initiatives over the last decade, targeting industrial pollution, have led to some improvements, and
some sections of the river now have relatively clean water. Significant reductions in COD loads from
industry and urban residential discharges following completion of urban wastewater treatment plants have
alleviated the problem of organic pollution. The main problem now is non-point sources such as fertilizer
runoff. Now nitrate and nitrogen (in the form of ammonium nitrate) are dominant in the river’s pollution
structure. Both pollutants are primarily associated with agricultural runoff. Presently, the Chinese
Government pays high attention to pollution control in the Huaihe River Basin