Demand for water analysis instrumentation will be helped by China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for 2011–2015. The Plan calls for an 8% decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions. COD measures the presence of organic compounds, including organic pollutants, in water and is used in lab and process configurations. In the lab, COD methods employ a colorimeter. In the process market, online COD systems employ traditional methods as well as newer techniques.

Released this month, China’s 2010 environmental report provided new details on the country’s water quality. The report stated that last year water in 40% of the country’s main rivers was only fit for use for industrial and agricultural purposes due to pollution. Over 57% of the underground water samples from 183 cities were rated “bad” or “extremely bad.”