Project Scope and Relationship to China's Agenda 21

The project seeks to establish the capability of Luohe City, Henan Province for municipal waste water treatment, including the areas of reduction of pollutant concentrations in the discharged waste water, improvement of the biodegradability of the discharged water, etc. The project is based on programme area 10C of China's Agenda 21 - Improvement of the Human Settlement Environment, and related to programme area 10B - Construction of Infrastructure and Improvement of Human Settlement Functions and 14C - Protection and Utilization of Water Resources.

1. Background

There are 400 medium and small sized cities in China, discharging 10 billion tons of waste water every year. Waste water pollution in China is a serious concern. At present, water pollution has exacerbated water shortage, and given to many diseases along rivers. All this has limited economic development. Therefore it is important to treat and recycle waste water and encourage environmentally sustainable economic development.

Luohe city is a typical city in terms of industrial structure and water pollution. Industrial and municipal waste water discharges in urban areas is 86,000 tons per day. Organic pollution(COD) is about 11,795 tons per day. The main pollution sources are paper mills, meat plants, chemical fertilizer plants, leather and tanning plants and fibre plants. This proposed project will be an important model for the whole nation.

Since the 1970s, waste water discharges from cities increased and badly polluted the Heihe River. The river water is black and odorous and devoid of aquatic life. People living along the river have developed liver diseases, cancer and other serious health problems. Many animals have died from consuming the river water.

China presently lacks technology and manufacturing capability for small and medium-sized municipal waste water treatment plants. There is also a lack of management skills.

The Henan People's Congress has listed the Heihe pollution problem as one of the 20 most important problems for the government to address. The government is determined to solve the problem. A leading group for Heihe pollution control headed by the Mayor was established, and then the Luohe City Waste Water Treatment Company. A design institute was entrusted to do the feasibility study which determined that more than US$ 5.7 million needs to be invested for the industrial waste water treatment.

2. Objectives

• Long-term Objectives
  • Set up a management system for small and medium-sized waste water treatment projects and foster environmentally sustainable economic development in small and medium-sized cities.

• Immediate Objectives
  • Set up a waste water treatment system in Luohe city. The system shall include six industrial waste water treatment plants, a secondary waster water treatment plant with a capacity of 140,000 m3/day and a tertiary waste water recycling plant with a capacity of 50,000 m3/day
  • Purify the waste water from the main waste sources to meet industrial waste discharge standards
  • Recycle waste water in the City. The water system will supply 50,000 tons of water per day, with BOD of less than 10 mg/l for industrial use. This will prevent decline in groundwater levels in the urban areas of Luohe City
  • Establish a management system and disseminate technologies of waste water treatment
  • Introduce advanced industrial and municipal waste water treatment technologies and learn experience from other countries.

3. Activities

• 3.1 Treat industrial effluent from 11 major pollution sources in the City, including paper mills, chemical plants, as well as meat processing, leather/tanning, printing and dyeing, and pharmaceutical plants.
  • Introduce advanced foreign technologies for the treatment of the waste water from straw pulp processing, cotton pulp processing, bleaching waste water from paper mills containing phenol chloride, printing and dyeing and pharmaceutical industries containing high concentrations of organic pollutants
  • Develop the technologies needed for the treatment of the waste water from chemical plants, such as polyamine processing, meat processing and abattoir waste, and leather tanning effluent.

  The duration of this activity will be two years.

• 3.2 Set up a waste water pipeline and a secondary municipal waste water treatment plant with a capacity of 140,000 tons per day, maintain the municipal drainage system and separate rain water from waste water. The municipal waste water treatment plant requires international advanced technology and equipment.

  The duration of this activity will be three years.

• 3.3 Construct a tertiary waste water treatment plant and a water distribution centre which can be used to recycle waste water. A 10 kilometers pipeline and a pump station are needed. Nitrate and phosphate treatment technologies need to be imported for this project.

  The duration of this activity will be four years.

• 3.4 Set up a national training centre for technical and management personnel, especially for the officials from small and medium-sized cities, environmental protection organizations, engineering corporations, engineering design institutes and relevant equipment manufacturing firms.

  The duration of this activity will be three years.

  This project will be implemented by the Luohe Municipal Government with the participation of the Waste Water Treatment Company of Luohe City. The China National Environmental Protection Corporation will provide technical support.

4. Inputs

5. Benefits

When the demonstration project has been set up, it will clean up the Heihe River, reduce more than 36 million tons of waste water discharges and 4,900 tons of organic pollutant and other hazardous wastes, and recycle 16.0 million tons of waste water every year and thus release the tension of water shortages in the City. The incidence of disease among people living along the river will be reduced by 70%. The Heihe river's water quality and the ecological environment along the river will improve. The 5.75 million irrigation facilities on the river will be usable again. More than US$ 11.50 million will be saved every year.

The project will help other small and medium-sized cities to protect their water environment and ensure environmentally sustainable economic development in those cities.It will also aid the development of Chinese environmental industries.