Construction started this week in Shenzhen on what is expected to be the country's largest underground sewage treatment plant.

 

Buji Sewage Treatment Plant is "the key" to control water pollution in Shenzhen Bay and Shenzhen River, a senior official with the Shenzhen water and river bureau said.

 

The plant is expected to improve the water quality of Buji River and Shenzhen River, the official said.

 

"The plant will be put into operation in 2009 with a daily sewage processing capacity expected to reach 200,000 tons," said the bureau's director Jiang Zunyu.

 

The 950 million yuan (US$123 million) investment underground will sit below a park of 4.6 hectares.

 

"The Buji sewage treatment plant will generate a fundamental change to the water environment of Buji River, Shenzhen River as well as Shenzhen Bay as a whole," Jiang said. "The plant will also be built like a beautiful park providing a new good resting place for local citizens."

 

According to Jiang, the Buji plant is only the beginning of the "big-scale" construction of sewage treatment plants in Shenzhen.

 

"During the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) period, we aim to construct, reconstruct or expand as many as 20 sewage treatment plants (in Shenzhen) to bring the city's overall sewage processing efficiency to 80 percent and above," Jiang told reporters.

 

Ground was also broken two days ago in the second phase of the city's Hengling sewage treatment plant.

 

With a daily processing capacity of up to 400,000 tons, the 510 million yuan project is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

 

Jiang said the projects will go a long way for the environment and "will help improve the water quality of the rivers crossing Shenzhen and Huizhou more quickly, while better protecting the water function of Longyan River, Xizhi River as well as Dongjiang River".

 

(China Daily April 11, 2007)