Villagers in the town of Ligezhuang, just outside Jiaozhou in east China's Shandong province, are unable to drink the water from their taps due to water pollution from nearby electroplating industries, Bandao News reports.

A large sand pits designed to be freshwater fish breeding bases, were located. Nothing remained alive around them except one kind of red plant.

In the Herongzhuang village area of the town, a villager surnamed Zhang said the whole village was afflicted with the polluted water because many factories had been built in the industrial zone and the water was contaminated. He said that this meant that the fish in the Dagu River, which runs alongside the industrial zone, were all dead and the water was undrinkable.

An elderly resident said that they have had to buy large plastic bottles of water since then.

The electroplating industrial zone, established 10 years ago, focuses on producing plating, as well as the manufacture of craft goods and jewelry. These industries may produce harmful heavy metals including cyanide, nickel and chromium, to name a few. These pollutants then seeped deep into the soil and polluted the underground water and the river.

Behind the zone, two large sand pits designed to be freshwater fish breeding bases, were located. Nothing remained alive around them except one kind of red plant.

One of the villagers said that the sand pits were made 5 or 6 years ago. While constructing the base, the groundwater poured out. The developer finally pumped the groundwater dry and left it with the sand.

Wu Xiuhua, a villager, said that many houses in the village have cracks on the walls due to the shortage of underground water.

The town's deputy chief Sun Jifu said that three sewage treatment factories have been built in the zone, but their detergent production is limited.

To deal with the pollution issue in the Dagu River, the local government said that it is hard for them to supervise those responsible due to jurisdictional difficulties, as the river separates two local government areas.

Sun said the construction of sewage treatment works will be expanded to deal with pollution.