Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

The Zhuhai government is determined to continuing sponging up rainfall and floods for the betterment of everyone by the end of the year 2030.

Toward that end, sewage collection and treatment is to reach 95 percent while the harm of sludge is to be nullified by 2020. By 2030, sewage collection and purification is to reach 96 percent, according to the Revision of Zhuhai Sewage System Planning released by the Urban Utilities, Landscaping & Forestry Bureau on Oct 31.

A Sponge City is one in which the urban underground system absorbs, stores, releases, and purifies rainwater and appropriates it for reuse.

Zhuhai is to become Sponge City [File photo]

Sewage treatment 95 percent 

With the principal of sustainable development and low-carbon release, Zhuhai is to establish reasonably distributed, safe and reliable, and highly efficient urban sewerage in order to improve raw waste treatment and water purity.

The plan states that by 2020 all sewage treatment plants will meet national Grade I standards, meaning that treated water is safe for human consumption. The goal includes control of surface runoff as well as containment of rainwater in over 50 percent of built-up areas. 

Plan for facilities

By 2020, Zhuhai will have established a recycled water supply system to better utilize sewage resources. The reusable rate of recycled water will be no less than 20 percent.

Furthermore, the city will improve the recycled water supply system in regards to further development. The reusable rate of recycled water will exceed 30 percent by 2030. Recycled water includes that from landscaped rivers, industrial sites, and effluent for urban utilities. The recycled water plant is to treat 280,000 cubic meters of water per day by 2020, and handle 580,000 cubic meters per day by 2030.

[File photo]

Long-term planning involves water purification plants on Qi’ao Island of the Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Xiangzhou District, Nanwan Urban Area, and Hengqin New Area in the East Wing; and Jing’an Urban Area, Fushan, Aviation Town, and Central and Harbor City areas in the West Wing. Furthermore, water treatment plants in Big Wanshan, Dong’ao, Guishan, Wailingding, and Dangan islands are included in long-term planning. 

The sludge treatment center in the city’s northern part will soon be relocated to CITIC Low-Carbon Environmental Industry Park in the West Wing, handling all sludge from central and western urban areas.