On December 28, the Development Report on Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in China (1978-2020) (ISBN 978-7-112-26943-3) was officially published and issued by the China Construction Industry Press. The compilation of the Report was organized by the Water Industry Branch of the Chinese Civil Engineering Society (CCES) and the Committee of Water Treatment and Reuse, the Chinese Society for Environmental Science (CSES).
In January 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and other nine ministries and commissions jointly issued the Guidance on Promoting the Resource Utilization of Wastewater, which specifies the future development goals, important tasks, and key projects for reusing wastewater in China. Wastewater treatment is now entering a new phase where wastewater should be used as a resource. At this critical point, it is essential to summarize the development of wastewater treatment and reuse in China's urban areas to identify research focuses. Under these circumstances, the Water Industry Branch of CCES and the Committee of Water Treatment and Reuse, CSES decided to organize the compilation of the Development Report on Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in China (1978-2020) (hereinafter referred to as the Report).
Development Report on Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in China
The Report was edited by Professor Hu Hongying from the School of Environment, Tsinghua University. Academician Qian Yi spent much valuable time reviewing the entire manuscript and made many constructive and specific suggestions for revision. Zhang Yue, Chairman of the Water Industry Branch of CCES, gave detailed guidance on the Report's basic ideas, content structure, and use of data and made valuable comments and suggestions after carefully reviewing the manuscript. The Report also received strong support from the Water Affairs Division of the Urban Construction Department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Urban Water Management Office, the Water Industry Branch of CCES, and the Committee of Water Treatment and Reuse, CSES. Experts from the Committee of Water Recycling under the Water Industry Branch of the CCES give valuable advice on the outline and content of the Report.
The Report is committed to "identifying the history, status quo, features, and problems of the industry." Based on detailed data and rich information, it showed the situation of wastewater treatment and reuse in the country, in provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities), and in 36 key cities since 1978, including their water resources and water supply, construction of urban wastewater treatment plants, water quality of influents and effluents in these plants, energy and chemical consumption and sludge production during treatment, utilization standards, quality requirements, and security for reused water, current utilization of reused water and its development potential, policy and management for reusing water, development of reused water industry, etc. The Report also puts forward suggestions for future development after introducing the research progress, frontier areas, and international development of the industry.
The Report consists of 19 chapters with 420,000 words, more than 130 figures, and 120 tables. The data used in the Report covers a period of 43 years. The Report is rich in content, systematic and informative, which can serve as an important reference for management departments, experts, scholars, students, enterprises and institutions, and related practitioners in the field of wastewater treatment and reuse.
Wastewater treatment and reuse are the core of the urban environmental infrastructure. It is a significant way to prevent and control pollution, improve the urban living environment, and secure the urban water supply. It also plays a critical role in forming a new urban development pattern, accelerating ecological civilization construction, and promoting high-quality development. The issuance of the Report is a milestone in developing wastewater treatment and reuse in China.
