YINCHUAN－With a few clicks on his smartphone, Ma Yufeng, 52, completed the purchase of drinking water for his family and three cows.

"The days of fetching drinking water from a faraway creek are gone," Ma said. "It once took nearly three hours to fetch water by donkey for one day's use, but now it takes only seconds to get enough water for the whole month, via the phone."

Ma lives in Xinwa village, Pengyang county, an impoverished mountainous area in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The area has serious water shortages, with only 335 cubic meters per person, or one-sixth of the national level, available.

About 15 kilometers from Ma's village is a creek, which has been used by villagers for generations. It is seldom frozen solid in winter as villagers often have to break the ice and fetch water for daily use. "Every family had to raise donkeys to carry water," Ma recalled. "I raised two, one for the water and the other for farming."

Ma is even more afraid of rainy days as he has to walk along a muddy path to fetch water. "We must be extremely careful not to fall off the cliffs," Ma said.

To address the shortage, the county constructed a water supply network in 1983, pumping groundwater up the hills to 156 villages, including Ma's.

Zhang Wenke, an official with the county's drinking water management station, said it was not a success. "Because our villagers' houses are dotted in the mountains, it cost too much to manage, and it was too difficult to control the water supply and charge tariffs," Zhang said.

In 2016, a four-year government project was launched, providing over 1 million people in 44 counties and 603 villages in the south-central area of Ningxia with an annual water supply of about 39.8 million cu m.

Pengyang county expanded the old water network, installed intelligent water meters and implemented automatic online monitoring and control of drinking water for the villagers.

Tian Hao, a technician involved in the project said: "We can monitor the water volume and quality at any time and place via our phones. Even a little leak will trigger an alert to inform us."

Ma, a new smartphone user, is amazed by the convenience brought by the internet. "I always check my phone for water usage," Ma said. "My family now has enough clean water to use, but we still won't waste a drop."

Internet technologies, including data analysis and cloud computing, have changed water management in the county, cutting management staff and saving 1.2 million yuan ($175,000).

Water, once a drag on the county's development, has finally set villagers free to make good incomes by growing more crops and raising more cattle and sheep.

Donkeys, indispensable water carriers in the past, are seldom seen in the villages nowadays.

Like many other villagers, Ma sold his two donkeys and bought three cows. "Profits from beef have been high in the past two years, and our life is getting better and better," Ma said.

Pengyang county came out of poverty in April.