While Northern China's water shortage may have a ripple effect on other parts of the country, one city in Inner Mongolia is taking care of the water they do have. Hohhot receives the majority of its water from the Yellow River that runs through Tuoketuo County, but most of which is not readily drinkable. However, thanks to an improved treatment technology, Hohhot's tap water is now better than ever. CGTN's Cui Hui'ao reports.

Without the Yellow River, two-thirds of the city of Hohhot would have no water to use. Since 2003, water has been transported from China's famous waterway to millions of homes. And the 100-kilometer-journey begins at this pump station.

YU DEHU DIRECTOR, PRE-SEDIMENTATION PLANT "Here the water is taken from the river. Big objects like tree branches and grass are filtered out right away."

Yu says garbage like water bottles used to flow into the station. But now the water has fewer pollutants. He says the headwater got cleaner thanks to better environmental protection. Last year, fish ponds and restaurants nearby were all shut down. And the station started monitoring the upstream and downstream flows around the clock.

YU DEHU DIRECTOR, PRE-SEDIMENTATION PLANT "What we do here is just the initial filtering. Water is pumped from here to another factory 2.7 kilometers away. There, sand gets filtered out by six sediment tanks."

However, these steps are not enough to produce drinkable water. Zhang Xiang, the director of this water treatment plant, is in charge of the deep purification process.

ZHANG XIANG DIRECTOR, JIN RIVER WATER TREATMENT PLANT "When water gets to our plant, we add flocculant to remove those large organic matter particles. Then water needs to be filtered again before it becomes drinkable."

Yet drinkable is not what most people settle for. For years, locals in the city complained about the smell of the water.

HUO RUI MANAGER, LOCAL DUMPLING RESTAURANT "Especially in the winter, because the Yellow River is frozen, its water is less fluid. The tap water we get would have this fishy smell, which was annoying."

In response to citizens' complaints, Zhang Xiang's plant found a solution to make the smell go away.

ZHANG XIANG DIRECTOR, JIN RIVER WATER TREATMENT PLANT "We added another step to the water treatment process. We use ozone and activated carbon in our 28 tanks to improve the taste of the water. Now there are fewer complaints about the smell."

Around 400 thousand cubic meters of water are transported from the Yellow River to Hohhot per day. And the staggering numbers are set to double in the next ten years to meet the city's rising demand. For Hohhot, the Yellow River is and will be vital to its people's lives. Cui Hui'ao, CGTN, Hohhot.