China to improve sewage treatment in next five years

BEIJING -- China will improve sewage water treatment capabilities and enhance the transformation of sewage into resources over the next five years, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

By 2025, the country will see a marked improvement in the efficiency of sewage collection, while sewage treatment capabilities in cities and counties will meet local social and economic development demands, according to a document jointly issued Monday by 10 government departments, including the NDRC.

Meanwhile, in cities suffering from water shortages, more than 25 percent of the total sewage treated should be used as reclaimed water, said the document. For the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China, the rate should be over 35 percent.

By 2035, China expects to establish an organized, safe, environmental-friendly and economical pattern in wastewater resource utilization, the document said.

It called for efforts to push forward the recycling of wastewater as resources in key areas such as urban domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, as well as agricultural and rural sewage treatment.

China discharged some 75 billion cubic meters of urban wastewater in 2019, but the amount of reclaimed water used was less than 10 billion cubic meters in the same period.