Tax for saving water!

China has extended a pilot taxation scheme to encourage water conservation to another nine provinces and regions, including the arid capital Beijing, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia in the desertified northwest, Xinhua news agency reported late on Thursday. The pilot scheme, already tested in Hebei province, will impose punitive tax rates on businesses that exceed their water use quotas, and will use favourable rates to encourage the use of recycled water from sewage treatment plants.