Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

These pictures show a shocked farmer inspecting the milk-like substance coming from a well where water usually flows.

Picture Credits: AsiaWire

The bizarre photos from the village of Minzhen in Shijiazhuang, capital city of North China’s Hebei Province, show an entire irrigation channel full of what has been called “milk water” by local residents.

The liquid, which they believe to be contaminated with chemicals, was pumped out of boreholes and sent to fields of growing wheat in the crucial crop growing region of the North China Plain.

Locals believe the milky well water is the result of polluted groundwater, which is more concerning than factory waste simply being let out into the irrigation ditch.

They are also searching a 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) radius around the village in a bid to identify the factory, which, if found guilty of knowingly polluting the groundwater, could face serious fines and likely even closure.

Village farmers said they stopped pumping water from their boreholes, but when the liquid dried out it left a white powdery substance in its place.

Shijiazhuang environmental officials say they have taken samples and are still analysing the powder.

It was unclear at the time of writing precisely how many farms had been affected by the as yet unidentified milky water.