China's water lacks treatment options

• Source: Global Times
• [04:17 December 16 2009]
• Comments

According to the Report on National Environmental Statistics in 2008, released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China's total discharge of wastewater in 2008 was nearly 57.2 billion tons, a 2.7 percent rise, year-on-year.

By Kang Juan

One in four Chinese cities and seven out of 10 counties are without a sewage-treatment plant, and that widespread omission is being blamed for contributing to the nation's worsening water pollution.

The issue was highlighted Sunday by a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the chief economic planning body, who said rising water prices in many cities are needed mainly to cover sewage-treatment costs.

The residential wastewater treatment fee in 36 major cities was only 0.7 yuan per cubic meter, on average, as of 2008, less than the national average cost of 1.1 yuan, not including the cost for pipe construction and sludge disposal, according to Cao Changqing, head of the NDRC's Department of Pricing. He suggested that the situation has restricted the development of the wastewater-treatment industry.

Citing data released by the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ministry, Cao said China's wastewa ter treatment rate was 66 percent in 2008, with 1,792 related plants having been established by September of this year and the treatment capacity topping 99 million tons per day.

"However, 25 percent of cities and more than 70 percent of county towns haven't built any sewage-treatment plants, while many of the established ones are operating at less than 30 percent load rate, with 70 percent of them limited by a shortage of funds and supporting pipe networks.

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public Environmental Affairs, told the Global Times that about 180 Chinese cities discharge wastewater without treatment due to an absence of facilities, while Beijing is among the best cities in terms of wastewater treatment.

An unnamed official for the Beijing Water Authority told the Global Times Tuesday that the rate of wastewater treatment in urban Beijing areas has reached 93 percent, with nine major plants in the eight districts treating about 720 million tons of wastewater last year. Du Pengfei, a scholar with Tsinghua University, noted that China has become the biggest discharger of wastewater in the world, as well as the one with the fastest-growing discharge level.

According to the Report on National Environmental Statistics in 2008, released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China's total discharge of wastewater in 2008 was nearly 57.2 billion tons, a 2.7 percent rise, year-on-year. The industrial and residential discharges comprised 42.3 percent and 57.7 percent of the total, respectively.

Based on an analysis of statistics released in June by the ministry, Caijing, a business magazine, reported that the national wastewater-treatment plants were running at 73.6 percent capacity, in terms of load rate.

"Even if all the plants were running at full load, only 60 percent of the national wastewater could get treated," the Caijing report said, stressing the need for increased load rates and more facilities.