Beijing invests ¥13B to counter 2017 water shortage

The Beijing government announced they plan to invest ¥13 billion ($1.9 billion USD) in wastewater treatment and solar power projects to be located in rural areas in the next three years.

Earlier this year, the officials from China’s Ministry of Water Resources and the Beijing Municipality announced that the country would invest ¥24 billion ($3.5 billion USD) to solve Beijing’s water shortage.  Over the next five years, 136 water-saving projects are expected to be constructed for Beijing’s industrial sector, which uses over a billion cubic meters (26 billion gallons) of water annually.

Last month Beijing also began receiving over a million tons of water from reservoirs in the Hebei province as part of the South-to-North water diversion project that will be completed in March 2009.

And in June, a wastewater treatment facility built by Siemens Water Technologies, a subsidiary of Munich, Germany-based Siemens (NYSE: SI), started providing 100,000 cubic meters (2.6 million gallons) of water on a daily basis to 400,000 Beijing residents.

The city’s water shortage is expected to reach a critical stage in 2010 when the population is expected to hit 17 million. The population is expected to surpass 15 million this year.

And neighboring province Hebei is accepting bids until Oct. 23 for a wastewater project financed by the Asian Development Bank.

The plant is one of 37 clean energy projects the Hebei government is investing ¥2 billion ($29.4 million USD) in. Other projects include more wastewater treatment plants, waste recycling, natural gas and other clean energy plants.

Some 400 Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have inadequate water supplies. At the end of 2005, only 46 percent of municipal wastewater was being treated and nearly 300 cities lacked wastewater facilities. Chinese officials have said trillions of yuan are needed to help China meet its water needs (see The Wild West of water in China).

A number of other Chinese cities have announced new initiatives in wastewater treatment:

• Construction has started on the third wastewater treatment plant in Shandong. The Jinan government invested ¥380 million ($55.9 million USD) in the project.
• Guangxi, China-based Nanning government announced they will invest in 10 large projects to improve the water environment. The total investment is about ¥1.9 billion ($27.9 million USD).
• Anhui's National Development and Reform Commission expects to invest ¥111.5 million  ($16.4 million USD) to support wastewater treatment projects in Hefei.
• Heilongjiang, China-based Harbin government plans to invest ¥1.1 billion ($16.2 million USD) to build 13 wastewater treatment plants. Eight plants are already under construction and are expected to be operational next year.
• The Hubei government plans to invest ¥85.5 billion ($12.5 billion USD) in wastewater treatment, natural gas supply and other projects.
• Yunnan's Jinning government has started construction on a wastewater treatment plan, investing ¥34 million ($5 million USD).
• Fujian, China-based Fuzhou Environment Department announced they will invest and build seven new wastewater plants, ensuring 20 million tons of wastewater treatment growth per year.
• The Jiangxi government announced it will invest and build five new wastewater treatment plants in the next two years.
• Four wastewater treatment plants have been constructed in the Anhui province to deal with the wastewater of Huoshan. The total investment of these plants is ¥6 million ($0.9 million USD).
• Siemens will provide a membrane bio-reaction system for the new urban wastewater treatment plant in the Jiangsu, China. The system is expected to be in operation later this year.
• The first village-level wastewater treatment project in Jidong has been completed. The Jidong government invested over ¥200,000 ($29,400 USD) in this project, which will serve about 200 local residents.