Hebei steps up management of rural sewage water

Su Yanjun is a rural resident of Dongxue village in Gucheng county, North China’s Hebei province. His house now is decorated by delicate potted flowers watered by processed domestic sewage, which can also be used to flush the toilet, keep down dust and irrigate crops.

"Since my house was installed with a sewage treatment device, all the wastewater we produce daily, which used to be directly sprayed onto the street, can be recycled," said Su.

The water treatment system is a new model adopted by the county to better manage the sewage produced daily in rural areas. The domestic sewage produced through bathing, house cleaning and washing the dishes is gathered through pipelines. After processing, it will become the Class A recycled water that can be recycled for other purposes.

Rural sewage management is a key problem for the government as it strives to improve rural living conditions. This year, a total of 10,000 villages in Hebei province will be given water purifying and processing facilities.

So far, 3,987 villages have been newly added to the sewage treatment system, which now covers more than 70 percent of the province’s rural areas.

For large-scale villages with dense populations and complete water delivery pipeline systems, the government will establish sewage processing networks that combine the functions of gathering, purifying and processing water, in order to turn life sewage into a recyclable resource.

Small villages with scattered residential distribution will be able to use a regional sewage processing station.

For villages built on mountains or dams, where it is not easy to collect sewage water, domestic septic tanks and methane tanks are advised.