Polluted water has slowly devastated China’s ecosystems. China’s aquatic environment has been devastated. The shallow waters and oceans that surround the country have been severely polluted due to contaminated run-off water. These water pollutants cause a deterioration in ecological systems and increases the production of dangerous algae. They have also helped damage the habitats of many species, especially aquatic wildlife. Such pollutants have the ability to alter the conditions at which most aquatic animals live, disrupting their ecological relationship with the water system, further diminishing the number of species able to withstand such conditions.

Animals are not the only victims of this epidemic. Toxins and hazardous pollutants in China's waters has impacted the lives of many innocent people. Untreated wastewater used for drinking and agriculture has increased the number of contractions of waterborne diseases, such as typhoid and dysentery. Carcinogenic pesticides in the drinkable groundwater have lead China to a growing cancer rate.

In 2008, China’s legislature passed a law in hopes of alleviates the water pollution crisis. The law was set up to punish those industries that contribute to this ongoing problem.

China’s officials are realizing the severity of the problem with the water pollution.  They are taking steps to solve the problem and minimize its effects.  The Chinese government is embarking on a $132 billion plan to clean up the water, and improve the quality of the water supply.  They are also enacting many new environment regulations and laws, such as China’s Water Law.  This new law requires any offenders to pay for damages they cause to the environment.  It states that "enterprise heads directly responsible for causing severe water pollution incidents and others with direct responsibility will be fined up to half of their income of the previous year," With this provision in stone, Chinese officials hope to be able to keep the water pollution at a minimum. The Institute of Public Environmental Affairs (IPEA) started the ball rolling by discovering that many Chinese companies were violating water-pollution control guidelines.  In 2000, the rate of industrial wastewater treatment across China was 94.7%.  This will hopefully continue so that the people of China can have drinkable water and the water pollution doesn’t continue to contaminate any other parts of the world.