Among more than 600 cities across China, almost half of them suffer from water shortages*. Beijing, China’s vast and densely populated capital city, is one such city currently facing an acute water shortage and recycled water has been identified as an important component of the region’s future water supply portfolio. In 2013, the Beijing Municipal Government launched a three-year plan to expedite the construction of wastewater treatment and water recycling facilities in order to increase reclaimed water supply to 4.13 million-cubic-meters per day, or 1.1 billion-cubic-meters annually in the Beijing region. This progressive initiative is helping the city to build greater resilience and a more sustainable future. Grey water will be used for industrial and municipal purposes while sludge will be treated and reused as landfill as well as forest soil enrichment.
As part of this project, Xylem Inc., a leading global water technology company, has been selected to support the development of the largest underground, wastewater recycling plant in China. The new 31-hectare Huaifang wastewater recycling plant will ease sewage treatment pressure currently being experienced in the south of Beijing and improve the water quality of the Liangshui River. As an underground treatment plant the facility will reduce land occupancy as well as containing any noise and foul odours emanating from the plant.
When complete, the project will benefit citizens living in the Fengtai District, Huaifang area of the Beijing hinterland.
Shuping Lu, President of Xylem China, said, “At Xylem we thrive on helping communities to solve challenging water issues and we are proud to play a key role in this landmark project. The development incorporates advanced, energy-efficient technologies that will significantly contribute to a sustainable water secure future, while also delivering valuable ecological co-benefits.”
The underground wastewater recycling facility will house four 160-square-meter bioreactors. This technology will bring the quality of recycled water to level four (IV) of Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water. This means that the water can be used for landscaping, industrial, municipal, and other purposes. Xylem has provided ten water inflow lifting pumps, 320 mixers for the bio-treatment process aeration pool, 52 pumps for the membrane filtration of the water reuse process, and two pumps for transporting treated wastewater to an above-ground wetland area.
* http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-12/29/content_22850887.htm
About Xylem Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology provider, enabling customers to transport, treat, test, and efficiently use water in public utility, residential and commercial building services, and industrial and agricultural settings. The company does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands, and its people bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on finding local solutions to the world’s most challenging water and wastewater problems. Xylem is headquartered in Rye Brook, New York, with 2015 revenue of $3.7 billion and approximately 12,500 employees worldwide. Xylem was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, North America for the last four years for advancing sustainable business practices and solutions worldwide, and the Company has satisfied the requirements to be a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series each year since 2013.
