Beijing has been recommended as the location of a new waste water processing plant that wastes less energy and has high recycling quality.

China has some 3,800 urban waste water processing plants, but most waste energy, pour out silt and produce low quality water.

"Water treatment plants in Beijing are overloaded. With high GDP per capita and great water processing pressure, the city needs an advanced plant," said Chen Tie, chief engineer with the Beijing Water Authority, at a Friday seminar on the new plant's location.

The plant was proposed last year by six environmentalists, led by Qu Jiuhui of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. They plan to finish the designs by 2016 and build the first plant by 2018.

The new plant will be characterized by low silt output, less use of energy and increased recycling of resources such as nitrates and phosphates, useful for fertilizer, while rendering the water safe.

"Building it in Beijing will set a strong example," said Wang Jinnan with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Wang hopes that the project will lead to other plants factoring energy saving and efficiency into their design and operations.