On December 11th, ecological and environmental protection experts and more than 20 media reporters from the central government stationed in Shanxi and within the province visited Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province to investigate the situation of sewage treatment.

A group of expert media visited the sewage treatment plant in the northern suburbs of Taiyuan City. The plant was founded in 1956 and was the first sewage treatment plant built in North China during the "First Five Year Plan" period. After the fourth expansion and renovation in 2022, it achieved full coverage of sewage treatment in the northern urban area of Taiyuan, reduced pollution to the Fen River during the rainy season, alleviated the urgent need for recycled water reuse by enterprises, and improved the overall utilization rate of recycled water in Taiyuan City.

Expert media visits sewage treatment plants in the northern suburbs of Taiyuan City. Image provided by the activity party

It is understood that in January 2022, the sewage treatment plant in the northern suburbs of Taiyuan City began to implement renovation and expansion projects, all of which adopt secondary biological treatment and advanced treatment processes. "The MBBR filler used in the renovation project is a new type of bioactive carrier. As an advanced technology in China, it can save energy and be flexibly applied, making it particularly suitable for upgrading sewage treatment plants. It is suspended on the water surface and can fully contact with sewage, improving sewage treatment efficiency." Li Junwei, the director of the sewage treatment plant in the northern suburbs of Taiyuan City, said that after multiple processes such as filtration, sedimentation, and microbial treatment, sewage is ultimately turned into clean water, which is used for industrial, landscaping, municipal, ecological water replenishment, and other aspects.

After the renovation and expansion of the sewage treatment plant, the daily sewage treatment capacity has increased from 40000 tons to 80000 tons. Currently, the daily sewage treatment capacity is about 50000 tons. Part of the sludge from the sewage treatment plant is used for incineration and brick making, while the rest is used for fertilizer production.

At present, Taiyuan City has built 7 domestic sewage treatment plants with a total processing capacity of 1.47 million tons per day. Currently, the Taiyuan Municipal Planning Institute is preparing the Taiyuan Municipal Sewage Special Plan (2021-2035) to ensure multi-path transmission of sewage and safe and stable operation of various sewage treatment plants, covering the central urban area of Taiyuan City's planning.

Yan Shiqiang, a member of the expert group, stated that engineering pollution control is the foundation of water pollution control and a strategic move to steadily achieve the goal of "one clear water flowing into the Yellow River.". Taiyuan City has accelerated the construction progress of sewage treatment facilities, strengthened the operation and control of urban sewage treatment plants, and high-quality promoted key water pollution prevention and control projects.

In addition to sewage treatment, solving waterlogging is also a major challenge in urban water management. In previous years, during the rainy season, Xinghua Street in Taiyuan City faced the dilemma of waterlogging. However, in 2023, many citizens living near Xinghua Street found that after multiple heavy rains, Xinghua Street did not experience any water accumulation, but instead traveled smoothly, with the water coming and receding quickly.

The expert media team conducted on-site research and found that Xinghua Street has significantly improved the happiness and security of surrounding residents after carrying out road drainage projects and pump station storage tank renovations. Niu Ruihao, the project leader of Xinghua Street at Taiyuan Municipal Public Facilities Construction Management Center, told reporters that this is due to the "Xinghua Street Road Drainage Project" that started construction in January 2023.

Expert media inspected the drainage engineering of Xinghua Street. Image provided by the activity party

Niu Ruihao said that indiscriminate rain and pollution not only cause pollution to the Fen River, but also lead to sewage overflowing to the surface due to precipitation. Through this renovation, the nodes where rainwater and sewage are mixed in the underground pipeline network will be investigated, and the sewage pipes will be connected to the sewage pipeline network and sent to the sewage treatment plant for centralized treatment; Rainwater flows through the rainwater pipe network and is collected in the large culvert under construction. After settling soil, it is discharged, greatly reducing the discharge of untreated sewage.

It is understood that the renovation and reconstruction of the drainage system in Xinghua Street will cover a total length of 2.75 kilometers for the road drainage project, involving multiple important drainage systems. This will enable the rainwater pump station, storage tank, and rainwater culvert to operate in a coordinated manner, improve functions such as rainwater pumping, peak shaving of overdue rainwater, flood control and reduction, and rainwater pollution control. At the same time, comprehensive rectification will be carried out on local nodes in the upstream and downstream pipelines of Xinghua Street that have siltation, blockages, and blockages.

Expert team member Ude stated that upgrading and renovating the drainage system and roads has improved the living environment and quality of life for residents.

Subsequently, the expert media and their group walked into the Liujian Village sewage station located next to the Beizhang drainage channel in Xiaodian District. The water inside the drainage channel was sparkling, and the sediment at the bottom could be seen.

Zhang Yongqiang, Deputy Director of Xiaodian Branch of Taiyuan Ecological Environment Bureau, introduced that starting from August 2022, the rural domestic sewage pipe network renovation project in Xiaodian District will be implemented, gradually canceling the current rural sewage treatment station and integrating it into the municipal sewage pipe network for centralized treatment by the urban sewage treatment plant.

Rural domestic sewage is uniformly incorporated into the urban sewage pipeline network for centralized treatment, which not only changes the current situation of rural domestic sewage treatment in the southern suburbs of Xiaodian and promotes rapid economic development, but also reduces the financial burden of the district and reduces the annual operation and maintenance costs of sewage treatment stations by more than 7.8 million yuan.

Beizhang Drainage Canal. Image provided by the activity party

In addition, the Xiaodian Branch of the Taiyuan Ecological Environment Bureau began implementing the Taiyuan Hanwu Village National Examination Section Water Quality Improvement Project in November 2022- the Taiyu Drainage Canal Water Pollution Control Project. The project will cancel 26 sewage treatment stations in 19 villages and have them centrally treated by the downstream Fendong Sewage Treatment Plant. The project will carry out dredging and renovation of 5 drainage canals, 1 sewage interception pipeline, and 4 regulating ponds with black and odorous water bodies. After the renovation is completed, all rural domestic sewage in the Xiaodian area will be included in the municipal sewage pipeline network.

It is reported that in addition to improving the living environment, the renovation of the pipeline network can also reduce the discharge of 888.8 tons of COD, 145.4 tons of ammonia nitrogen, and 20.2 tons of total phosphorus into the Taiyu Drainage Canal every year, helping to stabilize the water quality of the Taiyu Drainage Canal to meet the Class III standard for surface water by 2024, and contributing a small amount to the "one clear water flowing into the Yellow River".

Expert team member Hou Zhengwei stated that the Taiyuan section of the Fenhe River was once a key node that constrained the elimination of the five types of surface water quality in the Taiyuan section of the Fenhe River. In order to achieve the elimination of the five types of poor water quality in the Fenhe River, Xiaodian District has built many scattered rural domestic sewage treatment facilities, which have made contributions to improving the water quality of the area entering the Fenhe River after operation. However, due to the difficulty of ensuring stable and higher requirements for treated water quality with scattered and small treatment facilities, the implementation of centralized collection of scattered rural domestic sewage in the jurisdiction and sending it to large urban sewage treatment plants for unified and efficient treatment is a necessary path and also an inevitable choice for "a flood of clean water entering the Yellow River". (End)