STORY: How Nauru turns seawater into freshwater
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 21, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 22, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:57
LOCATION: Yaren
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of a truck carrying water
2. various of a Chinese restaurant
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): GAO YANG, Xinhua correspondent
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHEN JIEQING, Staff of a Chinese restaurant
5. shot of tanks used to store water
6. various of a reverse osmosis plant
7. STANDUP (Chinese): GAO YANG, Xinhua correspondent
8. various of a reverse osmosis plant

STORYLINE:

Like many other Pacific island countries, Nauru depends on desalinated water for its inhabitants' consumption despite being surrounded by the blue sea.

Traditionally, the islanders collected rainwater to meet their water needs.

This practice continues today.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): GAO YANG, Xinhua correspondent
"Where does the water in your restaurant come from?"

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): CHEN JIEQING, Staff of a Chinese restaurant
"The first is to order water from the water plant and wait for the delivery. The second is the collection of rainwater. We use these tanks to store rainwater. Water is precious here. So people here cherish it very much."

At a reverse osmosis plant, seawater is processed here to make it safe for drinking.

STANDUP (Chinese): GAO YANG, Xinhua correspondent
"I'm now at a desalination plant in Nauru. Behind me is a storage tank filled with unprocessed seawater. The seawater flows through these black pipes into the desalination plant.
What I'm pointing at is where the first filtration process takes place. This step filters out impurities from seawater, except salt. These white pipes on the side of the buckets separate the salt from the seawater.
Behind this warehouse, fresh water can be transported directly to the water truck through underground water pipes. And then these trucks can deliver fresh water to local people who need water."

Data from the Asia Foundation shows that only about 55 percent of people in Pacific island nations have access to basic drinking water.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Yaren.
(XHTV)