Shanghai started a 950-million-yuan (US$122 million) renovation on a century-old water plant to upgrade water quality on August 8, 2007, as it will serve the site.

      But the project will cut supply by 500,000 cubic meters a day, while demand soars amid the summer heat.

      Nanshi Water Plant, on the banks of the Huangpu River in downtown Huangpu District, will have its northern part upgraded and expanded over the next 17 months, according to Shanghai Chengtou Corporation, a government investment arm for urban construction.

      The southern part will be demolished after the northern part resumes production to make way for construction of Expo's corporate exhibition halls.

      Upon completion, the plant will supply cleaner water based on a French technology, with daily output of 700,000 cubic meters, a little less than its current capacity of 880,000 cubic meters a day.

      Water companies said they will arrange additional supplies from the city's western and northern parts for the areas that the plant currently serves, including Luwan, Huangpu, Xuhui and Jing'an districts. Water from Pudong can also be pumped across the Huangpu River, according to Shanghai Southern Waterworks Co, the plant operator.

      The southern and northern part of the Nanshi plant were separate plants when they were opened in 1902, one built by the French for supplying the old French Concession and the other built by the Chinese. The two parts were merged in 1956.