Two of China's biggest lakes are under renewed attack from toxic algae that destroy plant and fish life and threaten humans in the country's latest pollution scare, state media reported on Sunday. New satellite pictures of eastern China show the blue-green foul-smelling algae spreading in Taihu and Chaohu lakes, the Workers Daily newspaper said.

The toxic algae scare in Lake Taihu has already triggered government panic and forced residents of nearby Wuxi city in Jiangsu province to turn off contaminated tapwater supplies.

Scientists said that algae was still infecting Lake Taihu and had spread to Chaohu Lake in neighbouring Anhui province, where 40 square kilometres (15 square miles) of its surface were covered by the green slime, the newspaper said.

Local government officials were monitoring water quality "by the hour" in the lake, Zhang Bangguo, Anhui province Environmental Protection Agency chief engineer was quoted as saying, describing the situation as "grave."

Last Tuesday the algae scare in Lake Taihu triggered a demand for action from Premier Wen Jiabao, who was quoted in the media as describing it as a pollution "wake-up call."

More than 70 percent of China's waterways and 90 percent of its underground water are contaminated by pollution, according to government figures.

This month, authorities ordered towns around Taihu to shut down all polluting factories and meet new water emission standards by the end of June 2008.

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Newly-found blue algae in Taihu Lake not affecting local tap water

Nanjing, June 17 (Xinhua) – Drinking water has not been affected by the newly-found blue algae bloom in east China's TaihuLake, local authorities said on Sunday.

A satellite map from China Meteorological Bureau on Friday revealed a large blue algae outbreak in the central-western and northern part of the lake, close to Yixing City and Wujin District of Changzhou City.

"The outbreak has not affected drinking water safety because the algae is found far from the water intakes. The quality of tap water in Wuxi improved on Saturday and Sunday," said Li Jianqiu, a spokesman with Wuxi Utilities Bureau.

The nearby city of Changzhou, which uses the Yangtze River as its water source, has also not been affected, said a government spokesperson.

Continuous rain during the past few days also helped the lake recover, but ecological experts warned the blue algae in Taihu Lake could easily reemerge when the water temperature moves above 30 degrees Celsius. Meteorological departments at state and local levels are closely monitoring the outbreak and the changes of water quality.

The Taihu Lake crisis began late last month, when a low water level in the lake and the accumulation of waste and untreated sewage triggered the rapid growth of blue algae, turning the water putrid and cutting the supply of tap water to Wuxi.

All the towns around Taihu have been ordered to establish sewage treatment plants, and chemical factories will have to meet new water emission standards.

Source: Agence France-Presse