SHANGHAI will launch more clean-up projects this year to improve the water quality of Suzhou Creek, in a bid to make the city’s main waterway pollution-free within four years, a senior official said yesterday.

The fourth round of a campaign to clean up Suzhou Creek will be carried out soon to clear heavily polluted water — rated Grade 5 — on the creek and its branches by 2021, said Shanghai Water Authority director Bai Tinghui.

The 125-kilometer long Suzhou Creek, which flows from Qingpu District to the Waibaidu Bridge, is the biggest tributary of the Huangpu River. Its downtown section runs through Putuo, Jing’an, Hongkou and Huangpu districts.

China has six grades of water quality. Grade 1 is potable after minimal treatment while grade 6 is severely contaminated.