East China's Shandong Province, which is suffering from an insufficient supply of water, will try to make use of water recycling technology to raise the efficiency of water consumption.

A power plant under the Qilu Petrochemical Company based in Zibo City, Shandong, plans to start as of May 1 a water recycling project on a trial basis, which is expected to reclaim 40 million cubic meters of industrial and domestic sewage a year, company sources say.

In most Chinese cities, sewage is now discharged without reclamation. The sewage recycling technology is able to prevent limited water resources from being wasted and ease the water dearth in urban areas, industry experts say.

The Shandong Hengli Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. will support the water reclamation project with a 40,000-ton water treatment agent facility.

Meanwhile, Zibo City will invite specialists from Qinghua University in Beijing to appraise the water recycling technology to be used in the city.

About 10 cities on the Chinese mainland, including Beijing, Tianjin and Qingdao, have begun to make use of water recycling technology.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2004)