In early October, troops of a POL depot of the Xinjiang Military Area Command stationed in the Tianshan Mountain, said goodbye to their days of having to rely on fire trucks for water supplies and began to use tap water. For many years, grassroots troops there had complained about their difficulties in their daily life, such as drinking water, toilets, baths and so on. The new water supply system solved all the problems. The Party committee of the depot realized that grassroots difficulties should be overcome by taking a longer perspective.

　　12 years ago, the drawdown of underground water dried up the old well. Then, the depot was forced to fetch water from a pool more than 10 kilometers away. The small amount of water had to be rationed out to the troops. As a result, daily inconveniences including toilets and baths persisted. The situation remained unsolved owing to the shortage of funding.

　　Earlier this year, the Party committee there reviewed its work with the important thought of "Three Represents" and realized that grassroots difficulties should be solved once and for all. As its first step, it invested 100, 000 yuan to drill a deep well. The soldiers, led by Xue Shaofeng, director of the depot, and Duan Changyou, political commissar, worked more than 40 days and built a 500-meter long and 2-meter deep aqueduct. Then, a high pressure pump and a 40-meter long pipeline were completed, enabling soldiers to use tap water in their houses. Then another 50, 000 yuan was spent installing new sewage systems, bathrooms and solar shower systems. The well-equipped depot barracks now is green in trees and colorful in flowers.

　　By Yang Haiqiang and Sun Jinjun

　　(October 30, PLA Daily)