ively (USITA, 2005). China expects the net increase in water demand to reach 40 billion m³ by 2005; over half will be needed in cities and towns, where at present there is 77% network coverage. Supply systems built in the 1950s are experiencing serious deterioration. Agricultural demand is expected to stagnate or decline as a result of improving efficiency and technology. Wastewater treatment is set to rise from an estimated 20% to 45% by 2005 and to 60% in the larger cities (USITA, 2005). In 2002 only 310 out of 660 cities had municipal wastewater treatment works, with none in most of the 17 000 towns. There are over 61000 industrial wastewater works, owned by the enterprises that treat 85% of discharges (USITA, 2005). Only in areas of INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 © OECD 2006 5. THE IMPACTS OF CHANGE ON THE LONG-TERM FUTURE DEMAND FOR WATER SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE severe water shortage is there any concerted attempt to reuse wastewater. A 1993 ESCAP study found industrial water use to be highest in the Yangtze River Basin (including Wuhan), where 25% of all water extraction was for industry. The highest urban water use was in the Hai He-Luan He basin (which includes Beijing). Almost 9% of the total water use was for urban supply. While most of the water is used for agriculture, the increase in agricultural water consumption has been low. The Nanjing Institute of Hydrology and Water Resources estimated that from 391 billion mi in 1980, agricultural use by 1993 was 406 billion m 3 (50% of all water used) and 394 billion m³ in 2002. Use for irrigation declined by over 4%, from 358 to 337 billion m³ However, an increasing amount of this water was from the ground. Of the 1.3 billion population, some 80% were living in rural areas in 1999. The use of human wastes for fertiliser for agriculture is widespread and has been practiced for more than a millennium. However, poor practices meant that in 2001 some 50% of the rural population were infected by ascariasi