Chinese communists fought pollution as soon as they came to power in 1949 [MC5 comments: Without the profit motive in China, the government had no motive to cover up pollution and instead sought to measure efficiency by steps toward 100% recycling. The article below shows that already in 1962, the Chinese communists were more than a decade ahead of the people in charge of companies in the West. When a case of pollution arose, there was no profit-motivated cover-up. There was scientific and collective action to undo the damage instead. Meanwhile, in the West, the topic of pollution fighting was still the prerogative of intellectuals with neither government nor corporate power and with McCarthyist anti- communism in the air in the 1950s, we can be sure the Chinese message did not get much play in the United $tates. However, the message did get into China's leading daily newspaper as reprinted below.] "Use Waste Water from Industrial Plants to Irrigate Rice Fields" Communist Party of China People's Daily 5 July 1962 The organic and inorganic contents of waste water from industrial plants vary in quantity, depending upon the nature of the plants. The most harmful industrial waste water is that which contains phenol. This constitutes the largest amount of industrial waste water. The waste water from coke plants, oil refineries, coal gas factories, and other chemical plants belong to this type, and contain various quantities of phenol compounds, petroleum, and sulfates. If this kind of poisonous industrial water is drained into a body of water (such as a river, lake, or sea) before treatment, it will pollute the water, kill the fish, and endanger the health of the people. If such polluted water is put to industrial use, it will cause erosion to machinery, and adversely affect industrial production. And if such poisonous waste water is drained into the farmland, it will badly affect the normal growth of the crops. For instance, fish have disappeared in the Hun River in Liaoning Province after it is polluted by the waste water from the oil refinery at Fu-shun. Not only so, fish has greatly decreased in the lower reaches of the Liao River. The peasants of Li-shih-chai, Fu-shun Municipality, who used the polluted Han River water to irrigate their rice fields, reaped an average of less than 300 chin of rice per "mou" (the unit "mou" used here corresponds to 1,000 square meters, or 1.5 shih mou--a traditional measure used by peasants in Manchuria) during the ten years from 1939 to 1949. Before the Hun River was polluted, their average harvest was about 500 chin per mou. After the liberation [revolution of 1949--MC5], the peasants of Li-shih-chai reviewed the lesson of the low yield during the above-mentioned ten year period caused by lodging and the rice heat disease, which were in turn caused by irrigation of the rice fields by industrial waste water. They adopted a number of measures which turned decrease in yield into increase in yield. In 1958, the per mou yield of the paddy rice fields increased to 810 chin, as compared with 290 chin prior to 1949. However, lodging still happened in fields where polluted water was used. In 1957, lodging occurred on 65.6 percent of the total paddy rice fields and the average per mou yield was only around 400 chin. This fact explains that the prevention of lodging was an urgent problem to be solved for rice fields irrigated by polluted water. The Forestry and Soil Research Institute of Academia Sinica started in 1959 a research project on the effect of using the waste water from the Fu-shun Petroleum Refinery to irrigate rice fields. The institute obtained the following results in the last three years with the cooperation of various units: The composition of industrial waste water containing phenol is very complicated. It contains elements useful to crops, as well as elements harmful to crops. The elements which are known to be useful to crops include organic nitrogen, nitrogen in the form of ammonia, and a certain kind of organic stimulating matter, while the main harmful elements are phenol compounds, petroleum and sulfates. If the latter are controlled within a certain limit, the useful elements will show a maximum effect of increasing production. The occurrence of lodging or heat disease was mainly attributable to the improper proportion between harmful and useful elements in the waste water. In the past, people mixed a certain amount of industrial waste water with pure water for irrigation. But the composition of the industrial waste water varies greatly because of rainfall and the different operations in the plants. During the same crop growth period, the concentration of nitrogen in ammonia state may vary from 5 to 30 mg/liter. Therefore, the desired result cannot be obtained by mixing waste water with clean water at a definite ratio. Some people used the amount of harmful elements, such as sulfates, phenol compounds, and petroleum, as a guide in the use of industrial water, but they overlooked the effect of the useful elements in the waste water. As a result, they could not find a definite relation between agricultural production and the amount of industrial waste water to be used. According to the results of our experiments at Li-shih-chai in the last three years, the waste water used on farms generally contains 5-30 mg (mostly 10-12 mg) of nitrogen in ammonia state, 20-30 mg of sulfates, 30-50 mg of phenol (volatile and involatile phenol), and 10-20 mg of petroleum per liter. In industrial waste waters which contain phenol compounds, there is a definite relationship among phenol, petroleum and sulfate contents. It has been primarily decided that in calculating the amount of waste water to be used for irrigation, the nitrogen content in ammonia form is used as the main index, while the contents of phenols, petroleum, and sulfates are used as reference indices. Before irrigating the field, the total amount of nitrogen in ammonia form in the water is determined. During the whole growth period of paddy rice, the cumulated total amount of nitrogen in the state of ammonia per mou is regarded as the "nitrogen fertilization norm," which is converted into ammonium sulfate for calculation. Three years of field experiments show that the number of paddy rice plants and the height of these plants are noticeably increased as the "nitrogen fertilization norm" is increased, and that the weight of the ears and the weight of 1,000 grains of rice reach a maximum when the "nitrogen fertilization norm" is at 100 shih chin per mou. Beyond this norm, the weight of the ears and that of 1,000 grains of rice will reduce. There is also a definite relationship between the development of the root system of paddy rice and the "nitrogen fertilization norm." As the "nitrogen fertilization norm" is increased, the dry matter in the root system is increased and more widely distributed. But when the "nitrogen fertilization norm" goes up above 150 shih chin per mou, the weight of dry matter in the root systems decreases rapidly because a correspondingly increased amount of harmful sulfate compounds inhibits the normal development of the root system. The relationship between the yield of paddy rice and the "nitrogen fertilization norm" is even more evident. When the norm is less than 100 shih chin per mou, the yield of paddy rice rises rapidly as the norm increases. But when the norm varies in the range between 100 chin and 150 chin per mou, the rate of yield increase becomes slow. When the norm goes beyond 150 chin per mou, lodging will occur. On fertile lands, a moderate lodging may take place when the norm is at 130 chin per mou. This serves to show that the norms of nitrogen fertilization should be varied from place to place according to the fertility of the land. The yield of grain reaches an optimum (78 percent) when the nitrogen fertilization norm is at 100 shih chin per mou. The yield gradually decreases as the norm goes above 150 shih chin per mou. Of course, the yield of grain is further reduced when lodging occurs. The protein content in the rice increases from 5.49 percent to 9.28 percent as the norm increases within the range of 100- 150 chin per mou. This shows that irrigation of rice fields by a proper amount of industrial waste water will not only increase the quantity, but also improve the quality of paddy rice. In the check area where an equivalent amount of ammonium sulfate fertilizer is used, the output of paddy rice, the rate of grain yield, and protein content in the grain are about the same as those on the fields irrigated by industrial waste waters. However, the development of stems and the root systems of paddy rice irrigated by industrial waste water is noticeably better than that in the check area. This shows that aside from nitrogen in the state of ammonia, there are some other useful elements in the industrial waste water favorable to the growth of crops. From field experiments, it is found that industrial waste water contains a certain kind of organic stimulating matter, which settles in the top soil, and has a highly fertilizing effect. The presence or absence of this matter spells a great difference in the growth of paddy rice even under the norm of hydrogen fertilization. From petroleum, a certain kind of stimulating element can be extracted. When a small amount of this element is added to the soil, all the useful micro-organisms in the soil, such as nitrogen fixing bacteria, actinomycetes, and true fungus will show a better development, increase the fixation of nitrogen isolated in the air, and ensure a better accumulation of nutritious compounds in the plant. If this element is used together with phosphorous fertilizer, it will curtail the function of soil in fixing effective phosphorous, and at the same time increase the absorption ability of plants in respect to phosphorous. It has been confirmed by years of research in China and abroad that if this petroleum stimulant is used in an extremely small amount alone (100 g per hectare), or used together with ammonium sulfate and calcium superphosphate fertilizers, it will hasten the growth of paddy rice, wheat, corn and other food grains, vegetables, fruit trees, and forest plants. Further research in this respect will be done in the future. As to the occurrence of lodging and rice heat disease resulting from the use of industrial waste waters to irrigate the paddy rice fields, there are two reasons: one is that the waste waters contain essentially a fertilizer of nitrogen origin, and an excessive use of industrial waste water will inevitably lead to an excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer; the other is that industrial waste waters have a high content of sulfates which are detrimental to crops. In acidic soil, the sulfates generate nitrogen sulfide, which inhibits the physical-chemical and bio-chemical functions of the soil, and cause imbalance in the absorption of mineral nutritious elements, especially silicates, by the roots of paddy rice. An analysis of the content of silicon dioxide in the stems of paddy rice plants shows that as the nitrogen fertilization norm increases the silicon dioxide content decreases from 14.64 percent to 10.54 percent. As the content of silicon dioxide is decreased, the physical property of the stems of the paddy rice is weakened; hence the lodging. The decrease of silicon dioxide also weakens the ability of paddy rice in resisting the rice heat disease and the insects such as locusts. This defect can be remedied by exposing the rice fields and an additional application of silicate fertilizers. By controlling the nitrogen fertilization norm, we may increase paddy rice yield to 1,000-1,200 chin per mou. Furthermore, by the combined use of industrial waste water and phosphorous and silicate fertilizers, by selecting the paddy rice strains which can stand heavy application of fertilizers, by rational close planting, and by strengthened field management, especially intermittent exposure of paddy rice fields, the per unit area yield can be further increased. This shows that in the irrigation of paddy rice fields with industrial waste water lies a great potential of production increase. As soon as the industrial waste water containing phenol flows into the field, it is quickly purified by the oxygen generated from the rice plants and the free oxygen in the air, and by the bio-chemical effect of the micro-organisms in the soil. An analysis of the water in an experimental field shows that 77.3 percent and 85 percent of the volatile phenol are removed 48 and 96 hours, respectively, after the industrial waste water flows into the field, 55.4 percent and 70 percent of the petroleum elements are removed 48 hours and 96 hours respectively, after the waste water flows into the field, and 80 percent of the sulfates is purified 48 hours after the waste water flows into the field. The rivers and lakes are much less polluted by industrial waste waters after the latter have been used in paddy rice fields for irrigation. The purification experiment shows that soil has a strong purification effect on industrial waste waters which contain phenol, and that the poisonous elements in waste waters can be comparatively thoroughly purified in the field through a natural process. To use industrial waste waters containing phenol for irrigation not only means the use of a rich source of fertilizer, but alsomean an economic and scientific treatment of poisonous industrial waste water. This is a measure with double advantages. The use of waste water by the Li-shih-chai commune at Pu-shun to irrigate a large area of paddy rice fields has resulted in an average per mou yield of 850 chin of rice, while the use of waste water from the coke plant of the An- shan Steel Mill by the San-t'ai-tzu Commune in An-shan has also resulted in an average per mou yield of 700-800 chin of paddy rice. Using the paddy fields of these two communes as experimental fields, the Forestry and Soil Research Institute obtained a yield of 1,200 chin per mou by using industrial waste water alone without applying any chemical fertilizer. We have good reason to believe that the per unit area yield of paddy rice fields will be steadily increased when the technique of utilizing industrial waste water is further improved.