China sewage treatment engineering issues assessment

Urban clean water is an important component of water resources management and is essential for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal. The Chinese government has attached great importance to urban sewage treatment and clean water resources. Unfortunately, the urban water quality h...
Ausführliche Beschreibung

Urban clean water is an important component of water resources management and is essential for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal. The Chinese government has attached great importance to urban sewage treatment and clean water resources. Unfortunately, the urban water quality has not shown a corresponding improvement with the increasing investment in the construction of urban sewage treatment infrastructures. In this study, we established a quantitative assessment index framework for engineering issues of urban sewage treatment system, including the lacking rate of a sewage pipe network, external water infiltration rate of a sewage pipe network, surplus rate of a sewage treatment plant, and discharge rate of untreated sewage. Then the assessment for engineering issues of urban sewage treatment system in China was conducted from the national level, provincial level and city level for the first time, with the Chinese government's open data and statistics. The results showed that the lacking rate of sewage pipe networks in China was 53%, the external water infiltration rate of sewage pipe networks was 34%, the surplus rate of sewage treatment plants was 54%, and the discharge rate of untreated sewage was 38%. The engineering efficiency of urban sewage treatment system in China was not high and varied among provinces and cities. In many urban areas, sewage pipe networks were incomplete or defective, lack and external water infiltration of sewage pipe networks are common, as well as misconnection of stormwater pipelines; and the problem of sewage direct discharge is serious. Improving the engineering efficiency of urban sewage treatment system, completing, repairment and reconstruction of sewage pipelines were the top priority of urban clean water in China. The assessment index framework established in this study can provide scientific basis for further advancing urban clean water, and the assessment for engineering issues of urban sewage treatment system is significant for the sustainable development of urban water resources. Ausführliche Beschreibung