A 16-year-old high school student has proposed that the perfect charge for water in Beijing should be 50 yuan per cu m, up from the current rate of 3.7 yuan per cu m.

But there is research behind Yuan Rishe's ambitious plan, and she doubts the government's planned 0.9 yuan per cu m increase will be enough.

Her study shows that in Beijing, a 5 yuan per cu m water price can only drive 5 percent of citizens to save water. However, when the price reaches 50 yuan per cu m, 95 percent of people will pay attention to how they use water.

Yuan understands that a 50 yuan per cu m price for water price will not be accepted by the public, so her proposal suggests the government offer every citizen 200 yuan, or 4 cu m of water, in the first month. Anyone who uses more than 4 cu m of water has to buy additional water at 50 yuan per cu m. Those who use less than the amount can receive the money back.

"Some of my classmates think my proposal is a good idea because they can earn money," Yuan told METRO.

She estimates the bold plan can save 1 billion cu m of water every year and the government just needs to pay a 4 billion yuan. She argues this is reasonable because the first stage of the south-north water transfer can also offer one billion tons of water, but it costs a staggering 500 billion yuan.

The three-person family uses less than 10 cu m of water every three months. "Saving water is my daily routine. it's nothing special," Yuan said.

The courageous water-saving plan now lies on the desk of the city's mayor. An answer is expected by January 2010.

Yuan's interests in environmental protection started in kindergarten. When she was five, her father told her that one disused battery would pollute 600,000 liters of water.

(China Daily 12/03/2009 page26)