China's South-North Water Transfer Project began pumping from the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hubei province to the Liuwan treatment plant in Zhengzhou, central Henan province, on Monday.

Ten water treatment plants have been built in Zhengzhou to pump almost 5.4 billion cubic meters to the capital city's six districts every year.

Henan is one of four regions covered by the middle route of the project. From Henan, water flows through Hebei and across the Yellow River on its journey to Beijing and Tianjin.

With an estimated investment of 500 billion yuan ($81 billion), the project has east, middle and west routes, transferring water to North China from the lower, middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

China's South-North Water Transfer Project starts supplies to central Henan province, Dec 15. [Photo/CFP]