Cleanup of the already vastly improved Qianshan River will continue during 18 months of Phase II, which begins by the end of the year and involves pollution source control, water quality improvement, and "smart" waterworks.

By then the Qianshan River will have 6.5 km (4 miles) of green belts, reported Chen Hui, director of the Xiangzhou District's Urban Management & Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau. More leisure green belts and flood discharge channels will appear as Zhuhai and neighboring Zhongshan City in jointly treat and manage the shared water environment. 

The river runs from Denglong Mt in Tanzhou Town of Zhongshan all the way to Macao. It flows east along the northern border of the Zhuhai Hi-Tech National Industrial Zone in Nanping, wraps around Huafa New City, and continues south toward Shizimen.

Qianshan River between Gongbei and Wanzai [Photo by Zhang Baoyan / Zhuhai Daily]

To tackle waterlogging, a rainwater pipe network and storage pond will be built or renovated near the Qianshan Gas Reservoir, while new pump stations will be built near Qianshan Interchange. Chen added at a Nov 9 press conference that inconveniences to local citizens caused by the treatment project will be minimized through pre-stage coordination, sectional construction, and timely cleaning of construction waste.

Qianhai River water quality is rated relatively good (at or above Grade III) for the January-September period this year. Five black and odorous feeder streams have passed Ministry of Housing & Urban-Rural Development reviews, according to Liang Jieming, chief engineer of the municipal water authority.

Water quality at Shijiaozui Sluice Gate on the Zhuhai-Zhongshan border improved from Grade IV in 2019 to Grade III in 2020. An additional 2.8 billion yuan ($438.5 million) was spent last year to treat the river basin with rain and sewage diversion and improved municipal pipe networks. 

Phase I of the treatment project is 99 percent completed. A 603.45-km (374.97-mile) pipeline for discharging domestic sewage has been built, along with 41.55 km (26 miles) of municipal pipelines, and 8.15 km (5 miles) of sewage allocation facilities. Some 40,388 cubic meters of silt have been dredged. In addition, automatic online systems monitor water quality at drainage pumping stations.

The bidding process has been completed for Phase II, approval gained from the Zhuhai Development & Reform Bureau, and surveying and preliminary design work are underway.