SZ eliminates 159 blackened, stinky rivers

Writer: Han Ximin  |  Editor: Holly Wang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily 

Shenzhen made solid and remarkable progress in water treatment by eliminating 159 blackened, stinky rivers by the end of 2019, the Shenzhen government said at a news conference yesterday.

The water quality of the city’s nine main rivers, including the Maozhou River, the border river with Dongguan, Shenzhen River, Guanlan River, Dasha River and Longgang River, have been improved to meet the Category-V standards thanks to four years of treatment.

“To improve the water quality, the city built a 3,274-kilometer water pipeline network in four years, which is 4.5 times the length that was completed in the 12th Five-Year Plan period, and completed 13,793 pipeline renovation projects in urban villages and housing estates,” said Gong Limin, vice director of the Shenzhen Municipal Water Resources Bureau.

Shenzhen has 310 rivers with flow areas of more than 1 square kilometer each. The total combined length of the city’s rivers stands at 999 kilometers. During the city’s development, 159 rivers were tainted, giving out bad smells.

The Shenzhen section of the Maozhou River used to be the most polluted water in Guangdong. After treatment, it has become a model of Shenzhen water treatment that now has two separate systems for rain and sewage water, according to Gong.

Through coordinated and concerted efforts with Dongguan and Huizhou, the city brought water treatment into full play by building water treatment plants, pump stations, a pipeline network and sluice infrastructure to comprehensively treat the Maozhou River along the main stream, as well as upper reaches and estuaries.

“To mitigate the challenges of the Maozhou River, the city came up with innovative modes, such as the use of EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) through cooperation with big enterprises under the Central Government,” said Gong.

The city worked out a water treatment master plan, Shenzhen Water Strategy 2035, through cooperation with Chinese academies of sciences and engineering. It also gained technological support from the Shenzhen water treatment alliance comprised of 50 research institutes and the public support of 702 river chief volunteers and 120,000 river protection volunteers.

Before the end of 2019, the city had completed the construction of five key nodes along the Maozhou River ecology way, which runs 6.1 kilometers through Bao’an District.

“The five nodes include two sightseeing points and a water lock of the Yangchong River. Three other nodes along the river, including a wetland sightseeing point, environmental education spot and culture sightseeing point, will be finished before the end of April 2020,” said Gong.

In a national ranking of water improvement last May, Shenzhen took the top spot in Guangdong and was praised by the State Council for its achievements in water treatment.

The year 2020 is a turning point for the city’s upgrade of its water treatment to Edition 3.0, in which all rivers will reach higher than a Category-V level before the end of the year and 1,000 kilometers of ecology ways will be built along rivers and the coast, and around lakes and reservoirs by 2025.

By then, water quality in all rivers will reach Category IV, and many rivers will reach Category-III standards, which is safe for people to swim.

“Guangdong plans to build 10,000 kilometers of ecology ways across the province. For the Pearl River Delta area, the province worked out a plan for six ecological corridors. One of them includes ecology ways along the Maozhou River, Dasha River, Shenzhen River and Longgang River,” said Gong.

In 2022, the total length of ecology ways will be 500 kilometers, which will be doubled to 1,000 kilometers in 2025.