18 September 2013, in the Executive Meeting of the State Council the drafts of the Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment Regulations were approved. These new regulations emphasize that urban drainage and sewage treatment are key to improving the quality of urbanization in China. They admit that infrastructure construction alone will be insufficient and more attention should be paid to underground issues. They urged efficient implementation of the State Council’s recommendations on strengthening city infrastructure construction by opening up the market to private companies, social bodies and public participation. The draft regulation specified following requirements:

• During the planning phase, urban drainage and wastewater treatment must go together with and be integrated into urban development, roads, green spaces and water environment planning.
• Design and construction for urban drainage and wastewater treatment will be a priority in newly built urban areas and certain standards must be met.
• Rain water and sewage emissions must be well managed to increase usage of recycled water and sludge.
• The monitoring of wastewater emissions and treatment operations, as well as the maintenance and management of sewer covers will be reinforced.
• Improve the capacity of urban water-logging control and prevention with contingency plans and strengthened governance.
• Severe punishments for illegal emissions of wastewater.

For more information on the new regulations please see here (Chinese only).

Further Reading

• Enforcing China’s Planned Green Economy – Can China achieve its planned RMB4.5trn energy-saving & environmental protection industry? HSBC’s Wai-Shin Chan on incentives, changes in environmental law, more regulatory muscle and what this means for water
• The Money in Sludge – As China struggle to cope with an increasing mountain of sewage sludge, we explore whether China could follow international best practice and turn it into a new revenue stream
• What is Treated Water – BASF’s Magali Simon APAC Head Water Solutions, walks us step by step through the process of wastewater treatment