Several hurdles are needed for sewage to become "clear"
Our reporter Gu Yang
After years of hard work, the "boots" of sewage resource utilization finally landed.
On January 11, ten departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Utilization of Sewage Resources", making arrangements for comprehensively promoting the utilization of sewage resources.
For Wen Jianping, chairman of Bishuiyuan Technology Co., Ltd., this day seems a bit sudden.
But for this day, Wen Jianping, known as the "old gun" in the water control circle, has waited for nearly 30 years.
"It is a very critical move for the state to propose the utilization of sewage as a resource at this time." Wen Jianping said that the utilization of sewage as a resource not only solves the problem of water pollution, but also the problem of lack of water resources. The key opened the two'locks' on the bottleneck of my country's high-quality sustainable development."
More than 60 tons of water is needed for every 10,000 yuan of GDP——
Water resources development urgently needs transformation
According to calculations, for every 1% increase in my country's urbanization rate, urban domestic water consumption will increase by 1.67 billion cubic meters.
Over the past decade or so, my country's urbanization has achieved rapid development, but the total water consumption of the country has not increased significantly, and has generally remained at about 610 billion cubic meters.
How is this done?
"Basically, it is saved by agricultural water-saving irrigation!" Zhang Chunyuan, the former deputy minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, told the Economic Daily reporter that water-saving irrigation has been promoted for more than 20 years. The space for agricultural water-saving is very limited, but the economy needs to continue to develop. The contradiction between water scarcity has become increasingly prominent.
"By the peak of my country's population in 2030, urban domestic water consumption alone will increase by 25 billion cubic meters. If water demand for food security, energy production, and ecological construction is added, it is estimated that 80 to 90 billion cubic meters of additional water will be needed. Said Zhao Yong, deputy director of the Water Resources Research Institute of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.
On the one hand, many cities "cry out thirst" due to water shortage, and on the other hand, the continuous increase in sewage volume. How to not only solve the water demand for future development, but also properly deal with the increasingly serious problems of water environment capacity overload and loss of water body function? Can not be avoided.
"my country is a water-deficient country, and the per capita water resources are only one-fourth of the world average. This means that conventional water resources development has come to an end!" Zhang Chunyuan admitted frankly that the reality has forced China to use water resources. Turning to recycling water, sewage can not only be obtained locally, but also a growing "resource". Promoting the utilization of sewage as a resource will be one of the fundamental ways to promote the high-quality development of my country's economy and society.
Based on the consensus on the recycling of sewage and the analysis of the survey data, before the National Day in 2019, Zhang Chunyuan and other 6 old experts jointly submitted a survey report to the central government to make recommendations on the current state of my country's water resources and the utilization of sewage. .
"Unexpectedly, before the National Day holiday ended, I received a call from relevant central departments and held a symposium to listen to opinions. Then the National Development and Reform Commission led the establishment of a steering group, a working group and an expert group." Zhang Chunyuan recalled.
As the only representative of the business community in the expert group, Wen Jianping prefers to use the supply and demand relationship of water resources to settle accounts: my country needs more than 60 tons of water to support every 10,000 yuan of GDP, and at the same time, every 10,000 yuan of GDP will emit a certain amount of chemical oxygen demand. And ammonia nitrogen.
Even if our water consumption remains the same, the emissions of pollutants from GDP growth will continue to increase. As a result, there will be less and less available water. It is both a rational choice and a practical consideration to promote the utilization of sewage on-site.
Reclaimed water utilization rate is less than 15%——
"Second Water Source" has great potential
Because of the first exploration in the recycling of sewage, Beijing SMIC's high-quality reclaimed water plant has recently become a "net celebrity".
This reclaimed water production enterprise located in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone not only solves the problem of domestic sewage treatment in the surrounding areas, but also makes the cost-effective reclaimed water "sweet and sweet".
"The surrounding domestic sewage can be directly used for industrial production in the park after our purification treatment." Chen Chunsheng, head of operation of Beijing SMIC's high-quality reclaimed water plant, told reporters that the treated reclaimed water fully meets the requirements of high-standard process water. , Has been widely used in circulating cooling, chip washing and other links.
According to Chen Chunsheng, the purchase price of domestic sewage is 1.4 yuan per ton, and the sale price of recycled water is between 6 yuan and 7 yuan per ton, which is much lower than the price of 9.5 yuan per ton for local industrial tap water.
Under the same quality, companies are naturally more willing to use recycled water.
"This is equivalent to building a new large reservoir with an annual water storage capacity of 200 million cubic meters in Daxing District, Beijing. This is why we emphasize that sewage is the'second source of water'!" Wen Jianping said, Beijing is the world's first In a city that has achieved Grade IV surface water standards for sewage treatment, the amount of recycled water in Beijing reached 1.15 billion cubic meters in 2019, which has exceeded one third of the amount of new water.
However, there are not many cities like Beijing that attach importance to the utilization of sewage resources. In particular, some cities lacking water in the north still do not hesitate to transfer water or carry out seawater desalination, or even mine deep rock groundwater. In the long run, these practices are both It is not economical or sustainable.
"At present, there is a misunderstanding about the treatment of sewage resources. It is believed that my country's sewage recycling technology started late and lags behind other countries, but this is not the case. China is not only not behind in this respect, but is also more advanced in some areas. Ping explained that some countries do not lack water resources like China. They have no demand and no need to conduct research and development of sewage recycling technology. China's sewage treatment and recycling technology is in a leading position in the world.
Although the technology is relatively mature, the utilization of sewage resources in my country is still in its infancy.
The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission also said frankly in the previous interview that the level of utilization of sewage resources in my country is generally not high, the utilization amount is not large, and the utilization rate is low.
In 2019, the national urban sewage discharge amounted to 75 billion cubic meters, but the reclaimed water utilization was less than 10 billion cubic meters, and there is a huge potential for sewage resource utilization in the future.
Although the prospects for the utilization of sewage as a resource look beautiful, it still faces many difficulties in actual promotion.
"At present, the standard for sewage discharge in my country is still the Surface Water Environmental Quality Standard (GB3838-2002) issued in 2002, and the water quality after treatment is still inferior to Category V, which is still real sewage." Zhang Chunyuan said, if Without raising the sewage treatment standards, the conversion of sewage into water resources will be difficult to achieve, and the value of sewage recycling will not be reflected.
Optimize the allocation of water resources——
Trillion-level market will open
"The Pain of Standards" has always plagued Wen Jianping.
In recent years, Bishuiyuan has won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award twice, has more than 600 patented technologies, and adds more than 7 billion tons of high-quality recycled water to the country every year.
Even though the results are obvious to all, Wen Jianping always has the feeling that "the whole body can't be used."
"Without a basis for judgment, it is difficult to price recycled water, let alone a market. I hope that relevant rules can be issued as soon as possible, so that there are clear grade standards, technical specifications and price guidance for the utilization of sewage resources." Wen Jianping Say.
This is not just the expectation of Wen Jianping and Bishuiyuan. Many water treatment companies such as Sanda Membrane Company, Jinke Environmental Co., Ltd., Jinme Technology Co., Ltd. are also gearing up, hoping to dig money out of the "blue ocean" of sewage resource utilization.
In Zhao Yong’s view, sewage recycling will give birth to a trillion-level new industry. The upstream of the industrial chain involves scientific research, planning and design of sewage treatment and utilization, the midstream involves equipment manufacturing and engineering construction of sewage treatment products, and the downstream involves sewage facilities. Service outsourcing, commissioned operations, etc.
At the same time, the recycling of sewage has distinctive public welfare characteristics. On the one hand, the state must provide support in financing and financial subsidies, and on the other hand, it must establish a reasonable water price mechanism.
"To solve the contradiction of water shortage, we need to reduce expenditure and increase income. On the one hand, we must adhere to the water management policy of'water saving first', and continue to promote the construction of a water-saving society; on the other hand, we must incorporate recycled water into the unified development and management of water resources to promote water resources optimization. Configuration." Zhang Linwei, president of the China Urban Water Supply and Drainage Association, said that on the basis of adhering to the attributes of public utilities, it is necessary to continuously improve the utilization of sewage resources by introducing market competition mechanisms.
Our reporter Gu Yang