I have read the whole thread but most of it was several months back so I'm vague on some of it.
As I recall, the fuel from the aircraft which was tested after the crash was within specifications with regard to water content, but that would not have revealed the water present
before the flight. Any water uploaded with the fuel or present in the tanks would have begun to migrate to the drain sumps and the sumps for the in-tank pumps before and during the flight. Some of it would even have been pumped through the engines. Therefore, was it in spec, as far as water is concerned, when it was loaded aboard? While we can test the fuel in the tanks in Beijing, how we can tell what the water content of the fuel
in the aircraft was before or during much of the flight. Does anyone really know? I don't think so.
AFAIK the tests have not been able to reproduce the fault without direct injection of water, a situation that would not occur in real life.
Were the tests conducted with actual fuel from the aircraft or with fuel obtained from some other source? Presumably, fuel from any other source would be more or less water-free, so it would be mandatory to inject some water to get any icing in the pipes and FOHE.