The largest investigation of the Yellow River by sea, land and air cooperative "operation"

The combination of unmanned aerial vehicles, underwater robots, and ground penetrating radar will form a unified and standardized list of sewage outfalls by the end of October

　　The Yellow River Basin is ushering in the largest survey of sewage outfalls in history. How many outlets are discharged into the Yellow River will eventually be clear.

　　The first batch of pilots involved Shanxi (Fenhe River Basin), Gansu (the main stream of the Yellow River), Qinghai (Huangshui River Basin) 3 provinces and 12 cities (states), a total of more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline, "sea, land and air" combined, no Man-machine, underwater robot, and ground penetrating radar cooperate in "combat". The preliminary plan is to complete the drone aerial survey by the end of July, and complete the manual inspection and expert verification by the end of October, to form a unified and standardized list of discharge outlets into the river.

　　The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment requires that the land pollution control be linked to the quality of the ecological environment of the river basin, and effectively promote the high-quality development of the entire river basin.

　　The relevant person in charge of the Law Enforcement Bureau of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said that in the investigation and remediation, they firmly opposed the simple and crude "one size fits all" behavior of shutting down the sewage outlet and blocking it. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said that the number of sewage outlets is not a basis for accountability. The focus of this investigation is to focus on the future, work hard, solve problems, and effectively improve the quality of the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin.

Focus 1

Why do water treatments start from sewage outlets?

　　The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment introduced that the appearance is in the Yellow River and the roots are in the watershed. The discharge outlets into the river run through the main tributaries, upstream and downstream, and the left and right banks of the entire basin, and are closely related to the improvement of the environmental quality of the basin, the use of water resources and the protection of aquatic ecology. Where the problem of sewage discharge into rivers is prominent, it is often the place with serious water pollution, as well as the obvious shortcomings in the use of water resources and water ecological management.

　　Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the basic "base" of the sewage outlet into the river, in order to link the land pollution control with the ecological environment quality of the river basin. The quality of the ecological environment and the level of water resources protection effectively promote the high-quality development of the entire river basin.

　　For a long time, the Yellow River has faced problems such as over-exploitation of water resources, severe destruction of ecological functions, and loss of biological habitats. The conflict between economic and social water use and ecological protection has been acute.

　　The ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin is fragile, and the situation of water resources security is still severe. The utilization rate of water resources development is up to 80%. Over-exploitation leads to increased water pollution. In some areas, “all rivers are dry and all water is polluted”. The problem of disorderly discharge of domestic wastewater is outstanding. Among the 137 water quality sections of the Yellow River in 2019, inferior Type V water accounted for 8.8%, significantly higher than the national average of 3.4%.

　　In 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment completed the investigation of the sewage inlets into the entire Yangtze River Basin and the Bohai Sea. On the basis of the pilot, the "three-level inspection" mode of drone aerial survey, manual walking inspection, expert quality control verification, etc. was adopted. The above-mentioned person in charge said that the practice has proved that this "high-tech + stupid effort" approach basically achieves the goal of "all investigations should be done, all investigations should be done".

Focus 2

What are the characteristics of the sewage outfall in the Yellow River Basin?

　　Chen Yao, a senior engineer from the South China Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the previous investigation found that the Yellow River Basin lacks water, and water is a precious resource here. At the same time, the sewage discharge in the Yellow River Basin showed a clear pattern.

　　For example, large-scale water user enterprises and farmland irrigation, the former will regularly discharge high-concentration tail water or sludge, rain may be used to drain sewage in the rain and flood season, and secondly, some slag tailings piles in the ravine do not do anti-seepage. Source pollutants will flow into the canal and the rain flood mouth; the latter planting season (generally two seasons, winter wheat from September to October, May-June harvest, summer wheat from June, September harvest) initial water wash The pollutants accumulated in the irrigation canal enter the river, and the non-point source pollutants overflow from the farmland into the river during the rain and flood season. These are special circumstances in the Yellow River Basin and require attention.

　　The three provinces in this pilot have large differences in terms of terrain, water regime, urban-rural distribution, and sewage discharge along the river. Qinghai is mainly domestic sewage with few enterprises along the river. Gansu's enterprises and population are concentrated in Lanzhou, which is a canyon terrain. The Yellow River and Huangshui River pass through the city. A large number of large enterprises and urban areas and towns are distributed along the Yellow River and Huangshui River. There are a few farmland irrigation areas between the built areas. There are many riverside towns and farmlands in Shanxi, many tributaries, and many mines in the canyon. For example, in Taiyuan City, the Fenhe River passes through the city, and the construction intensity of the urban area is large; the Gujiao County section is a canyon terrain, and a large number of coal mines are distributed in the main tributary valleys; other districts and counties are almost plains, and the main Fenhe mainstream is developed as a landscape channel; each tributary There are many enterprises on the market.

　　In addition, the seasons of the Yellow River vary greatly, the pressure of urban flood discharge and the amount of sewage discharge are large. The rainy season of the Yellow River is mainly concentrated in June-September, with rapid rain, high flood level and a lot of debris, so the main trunk and tributaries are all built with dams for flood control. The daily water flow in main and tributary rivers is thin and there are many tidal flats. During the rainy season or sudden rainstorms, floods, upstream reservoir opening and flooding, and municipal sewage plants discharge floods to wrap the sewage into the river. The concentration of water pollutants is high, sometimes causing local pollution. event.

Focus 3

What methods will be used for this investigation?

　　The scope of the pilot project includes Gansu, Huangshuihe, Fenhe and other rivers (segments) of the main stream of the Yellow River, involving 12 cities (prefectures) in Shanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. The tasks are divided into four items, which are consistent with the inspection of the Yangtze River and the Bohai Sea, and are divided into investigation, monitoring, source tracing, and rectification, that is, "inspection, measurement, tracing, and governance".

　　According to the distribution of industry and population in the Yellow River Basin, in principle, the scope of the investigation will be based on the current shoreline on both sides of the river (segment) to be inspected, and will extend 1 km to the land. However, if there is an industrial gathering area within 10 kilometers on both sides of the river (section), the entire industrial gathering area should be included in the scope of investigation and remediation, and the destination of sewage should be ascertained.

　　The investigation objects include all industrial enterprise sewage outlets, sewage centralized treatment facility outlets, and other outlets that discharge pollutants into water bodies through pipes, ditches, culverts, tunnels, etc. In short, it is a sewage outfall, so check it.

　　Consistent with the Bohai Sea and Yangtze River large-scale investigations, the Yellow River investigation will follow the three-level investigation model, that is, UAV aerial survey (level 1), and strive to achieve "no dead ends" and "full coverage" in the scope of the inspection; manual walking inspection (level 2) , Forming a land group, a water group and a technical tackling group, adopting sky aerial photography, ground walking, water patrol and other methods to implement a "carpet-style" inspection; expert tackling verification (level 3), that is, the distribution of sewage outlets in key areas and sensitive areas And abnormal areas where there may be omissions, use advanced equipment such as drones, underwater robots, unmanned ships, underwater detectors, etc. to check for leaks, fill vacancies and update and improve, and establish a unified and standardized list of sewage outfalls into the river.

　　During the investigation, the use of advanced equipment such as thermal infrared imagers, ground penetrating radars, pipeline robots, and mobile environmental monitoring vehicles will be further strengthened, and the entire process of APP list management will be implemented.

　　According to the above-mentioned person in charge, in addition to the special terrain and other factors of the Yellow River Basin, it is currently found that the localities have difficulties in terms of technology, capital and manpower.

　　In view of this, all efforts are made to consolidate all preparations. For example, the big data platform of the Yellow River Basin Sewage Outlet APP system has been established. It has functions such as precise positioning, route navigation, information filling, photo recording, statistical review, and full process management. It can meet the on-site inspection of thousands of people and use the Yellow River Basin. "One picture" and "one account" of the river outfall.

　　The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has also set up a team of "guarantors" to coordinate and solve various issues such as materials, accommodation, food, safety, reimbursement, and technology.

　　In order to help localities solve practical difficulties, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment led the establishment of a coordinated and assisted working mechanism. The law enforcement bureau of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the cadres at the department level of the Yellow River Basin Bureau served as the team leaders. Long, set up three coordination and support working groups, divide the contract and carry out the work, guide and dispatch the responsible regional pilot work, coordinate and solve the existing difficulties and problems, and urge the completion of the target tasks as scheduled.

　　Each coordination and assistance group will go to the provinces in charge to carry out on-site assistance, assist in the preparation of technical plans, aerial survey scope, drafting of airspace declaration technical documents, etc., and coordinate and solve related technical problems.

　　Beijing News reporter Deng Qi