China's reclaimed water pilot program doubles usage

China's reclaimed water pilot program has nearly doubled pilot areas' recycled water usage to 5.4 billion cubic meters, backed by 65.4 billion yuan ($9.7 billion) in infrastructure investment, as authorities push to turn treated wastewater into a mainstream industrial and municipal water source, according to a media release from the Ministry of Water Resources on Friday.

The pilot program was launched in late 2022 in 76 areas across 28 provincial-level regions, following a notification from six national government bodies, including the Ministry of Water Resources, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Previously, only 2.9 billion cubic meters of reclaimed water was utilized in these pilot areas, the media release noted.

The reclaimed water utilization rate in the pilot areas rose from 26 percent to 41 percent, it said. The share of reclaimed water in total water consumption in the pilot areas also increased from 7 percent to 13 percent.

According to the notification from the six departments, pilot cities worked to improve management systems for reclaimed water use, build technical standards and introduce incentives involving pricing, fiscal rewards, water consumption quotas, water rights trading, green finance and ecological value conversion.

The pilots also explored how reclaimed water can help meet new water demand, improve river and lake ecosystems, reduce industrial water costs, conserve water, cut pollution and lower carbon emissions.