Urban domestic sewage treatment facilities to make up the weak points of the implementation plan

Q: What is the background of the Implementation Plan?

A: The CPC Central Committee and The State Council attach great importance to the capacity building of urban domestic sewage treatment facilities, especially since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the National People's Congress has revised the Environmental Protection Law and the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, and The State Council has promulgated the Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment and the Action Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control. The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments have prepared policy documents such as the 13th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of National Urban Sewage Treatment and Recycling Facilities, the Three-year Action Plan for Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Urban Sewage Treatment (2019-2021), and the Guiding Opinions on Improving Policies related to the Charging Mechanism for sewage treatment along the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Remarkable achievements have been made in the capacity building of urban domestic sewage treatment facilities, which has played an important role in winning the battle against pollution and improving the quality of urban water environment. According to the statistics of the Department of Housing and urban and rural construction, in 2019, the sewage treatment capacity of cities and counties exceeded 210 million cubic meters per day, and the length of the sewage network reached 570,000 kilometers.

However, there are still many weaknesses in China's urban domestic sewage treatment facilities, and there is still a big gap with the requirements of achieving beautiful China and high-quality development. The shortage of sewage collection pipe network is more prominent, the lack of capillaries, the old damage of pipe network and the widespread misconnection of mixed connection, the rain pollution overflow pollution is more common in southern China, and the sewage collection rate and pollutant reduction efficiency are not high. The capacity of centralized sewage treatment is not balanced, many cities and towns have a large gap, and the potential of sewage resource utilization in water-scarce areas and water-sensitive areas has not been fully tapped. The phenomenon of "heavy water and light mud" is relatively common, the construction of sludge treatment and disposal facilities is lagging behind, and the harmless resource disposal is not standardized, and the level is generally not high. In order to solve the contradiction of unbalanced and inadequate development of urban domestic sewage collection and treatment, make up for the shortcomings and weaknesses of facility construction, win the battle of pollution prevention and control, and accelerate the construction of ecological civilization, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly issued the Implementation Plan.

Q: What is the practical significance of the current work of strengthening the weaknesses of urban domestic sewage treatment facilities?

Answer: First, it is an important part of improving the functions of cities and towns. Cities and towns are important carriers of people's production and life, and domestic sewage treatment facilities are essential infrastructure. With the acceleration of the new urbanization construction process in China, carrying out the weaknesses of urban domestic sewage is an important measure to improve the ability to guarantee basic public services and build a beautiful and livable city. In particular, reflecting on the problems exposed by the epidemic, we are required to speed up the strengthening of weak links, strengthen environmental, health and other infrastructure development, and strengthen urban governance risk prevention and control capacity.

Second, we implemented an important measure to expand domestic demand. Carrying out urban domestic sewage treatment to strengthen the weak points, and building a systematic project covering sewage collection pipe network, sewage treatment plant, sludge treatment and disposal, and sewage resources can not only form current investment, but also attract industrial investment and promote the development of green industries, which is of positive significance for promoting the formation of a strong domestic market, and coordinated promotion of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development.

Third, it can improve the quality of life of urban residents. The improvement of urban infrastructure is closely related to the quality of life of residents. If the infrastructure is not perfect, it will be difficult for residents to live and work in peace and contentment, which will bring adverse effects on social stability and urban development. Promoting urban domestic sewage treatment facilities to make up for the weaknesses and strengths, and promoting the continuous improvement of water environment quality, can meet the growing health needs of the people and the needs of a beautiful ecological environment, and will further enhance the well-being of the people and a sense of security.

Q: What are the main contents of the Implementation Plan?

A: In the drafting process of the Implementation Plan, we organized investigations and studies, listened to the opinions and suggestions of government departments, industry enterprises, experts and scholars, and proposed four key tasks for the main weaknesses of urban domestic sewage treatment facilities:

We will strengthen capacity building for sewage treatment. First, overall consideration of the capacity and distribution of urban population, and scientific determination of the layout and scale of urban sewage treatment plants. The second is to speed up the construction of sewage treatment plants and fill the gap in treatment capacity. The third is to highlight the key points, and put forward higher requirements for sewage treatment capacity and facility discharge standards in key regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Yellow River basin. The fourth is to choose water shortage areas and water environment sensitive areas, and actively promote the utilization of sewage resources. Fifth, actively promote the construction of sewage treatment facilities in incorporated towns.

Supplementing the short board of the collection pipe network, this work as the top priority of supplementing the short board, including seven contents. First, it is emphasized that the new centralized sewage treatment facilities must be rationally planned and constructed to serve the sewage collection network in the area. In addition to arid areas, the new pipe network should strictly divide rain and pollution. The second is to speed up the elimination of urban villages, old and old urban areas, urban-rural interface network blank areas, and speed up the replenishment of "capillaries". The third is to improve the efficiency of centralized sewage collection by means of cleaning and diverting, updating and repairing the pipe network, mixing and misconnecting. Fourth, for the existing urban sewage treatment plants with influent BOD concentrations below 100mg/L, it is required to carry out systematic remediation of "one plant and one policy" around the service area. Fifth, in the Yangtze River basin and cities to the south, we will promote the transformation of the combined rain and pollution pipe network to reduce the frequency of overflow pollution. Sixth, actively promote the construction of sewage collection pipe networks in towns. Seventh, improve the quality of pipe network construction, encourage the priority use of ductile iron and other pipes, and implement cast-in-place concrete or finished product inspection Wells.

To promote the harmless treatment and disposal of sludge as a resource is the difficulty of filling the weak points, including five contents. First, on the basis of reduction treatment, the appropriate disposal technology route is selected according to local conditions to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. The second is to comprehensively promote the construction of sludge treatment and disposal facilities, and the construction of sludge treatment facilities should be included in the planning. The third is to limit the landfill of sludge that has not reached the standard of dewatering treatment, and reduce the scale of sludge landfill in key areas. The fourth is to encourage the use of "biomass utilization + incineration" disposal mode, and use incineration ash as building materials. The fifth is to promote the harmless and reduced treated sludge for land use.

Promoting the construction of information systems. It includes carrying out the investigation of domestic sewage collection pipe network, establishing pipe network geographic information system in an orderly manner according to law, and encouraging exploration of the construction of intelligent management platform, etc., to provide auxiliary decision-making for the operation and maintenance management of sewage treatment facilities and pollution prevention and control supervision.

Q: What are the main sources of funding for the weak and weak items of cities and towns?

A: We will give full play to the "two hands" of the government and the market, rationally design ways to guarantee funds, and expand the channels for financial investment and mobilize the enthusiasm of financial and social capital investment.

First, we will increase financial support. We will make clear the main responsibilities of local governments, adhere to the principle that "projects follow the plan" and "funding elements follow the project", design a diversified mechanism for ensuring the investment of financial funds, ensure that the source of project funds is reliable and the scale is sufficient, and strictly prevent "half-completed projects" and local government debt risks. Relevant departments continue to support the construction of qualified urban domestic sewage treatment facilities through various channels such as funds from the central budget, and promote the construction and implementation of projects.

Second, we will attract investment from financial institutions and private capital. Give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and promote the PPP model in a standardized and orderly manner. Guide social capital to actively participate in construction and operation by providing medium - and long-term credit support, issuing corporate bonds and other fund-raising channels. Give play to the specialization and scale advantages of central enterprises and play a leading role. We will actively promote the trial of real estate investment trust funds, and explore financing guarantees such as project income rights and franchise rights.

Q: How to ensure the implementation of the Implementation Plan?

A: First, strengthen organization and coordination. Relevant departments of the state have done a good job of supervision and guidance, and actively supported projects to make up for weak spots. All provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) will coordinate planning and construction. Cities and counties, as the first responsible person, effectively shoulder the main responsibility, accelerate project planning and reserve, clarify the construction timing, and solidly promote the implementation of project construction.

Second, we will improve policy guarantees. All places should include the land for sewage treatment facilities in the protection scope of the urban yellow line, reasonably reserve land space, and effectively prevent and resolve the problem of "nimby". All localities should reasonably formulate sewage treatment fee standards, increase collection efforts, ensure that special funds are used for special purposes, and promote the determination of sewage treatment service fee levels through market-oriented methods.

Third, we will strengthen oversight and management. We will promote capacity building for monitoring the whole process of sewage collection and treatment, resource utilization, and sludge treatment and disposal. To organize and carry out the inspection and return of industrial wastewater entering the management. Actively promote the "plant network integration" operation model. Strengthening supervision of pipe and construction quality. Establish a scientific and reasonable performance appraisal system. We will further improve the public participation mechanism.