Video of flammable tap water in China goes viral, netizens call it 'real sparkling water'

On November 25, a resident in China’s Siyingtun Village was left aghast after the running water from the faucet above her sink caught blazes when she attempted to set it on fire. Wen from Dawa District, Panjin City, northeastern China's Liaoning Province wasn’t a lone resident with suspected gas inflow in her water supply. Several residents in a mass experiment witnessed the tap water go up in flames as they sparked lighter in the vicinity. China’s state-run press, People’s Daily shared the mind-boggling video on its official Twitter handle that demonstrated the flammable tap water across an entire village. 

According to the sources of China Central Television (CCTV), local reporters swarmed home-to-home inspecting the problem with the water supply and found that almost all taps had gasoline outflow mixed with supply. In another shocking detail, the head of the local water service Zheng Yongchao told CCTV reporters that the authorities were seemingly aware of the flammable gas accompanying the water systems but the “cause” hadn’t been identified yet. Many local residents complained that they had reported the problem to the authorities as a layer of oil often contaminated their hands during the wash. Meanwhile, the plant in charge Zheng dismissed the case, saying, that it wasn’t his “responsibility to think about it” when confronted by the CCTV reporters. Although he admitted that the pumping process involved contamination with gases and the water was supplied, regardless, without treatment. 

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A layer of 'natural gas'

Shortly after the footage created a stir online, China’s government dispatched a team to carry out an investigation into the matter. A team of investigators conducted a survey as they travelled across homes to conduct tests on the water supply. It was found that the issue was rooted in the groundwater storage that caused flammability due to a layer of natural gas during the water extraction process. Authorities informed CCTV, that the team will initiate the expansion and renovation of the water pipe network to resolve the problem. “Odd scene is caused by natural gas infiltration due to temporary underground water supply system error, which is now shut down,” People’s Daily, a Chinese-state affiliated newspaper informed in a tweet. 

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