See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/349305688

Advanced Wastewater Treatment In China - A Case Study From Hefei (Anhui

Province)

Conference Paper · May 2021

CITATIONS READS

0 319

4 authors, including:

Gerrit Foerster
BESINO Environment Ltd.
10 PUBLICATIONS   10 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Gerrit Foerster on 15 February 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 1 Advanced Wastewater Treatment In China - A Case Study
2 From Hefei (Anhui Province)
3 G. Foerster*^, J. Liang*, T. Tu*, W. Zhang**
4 *BESINO Environment Ltd, Room. 1506,15/F, Block A, Kingkey Timemark, No.9289, Binhe Avenue,
5 Futian District, Shenzhen 518048,
6 (E-mail: gerrit.foerster@besino.com, jun.liang@besino.com, tobias.tu@besino.com)
7 **Hefei WangXiaoYing Sewage Treatment Co.,Ltd.,No.1, Tongling-South road, Hefei City, Anhui
8 Province, People's Republic of China 230051
9 (E-mail: wen.zhang@besino.com)
10 ^Corresponding author
11
12 Abstract
13 The municipal wastewater treatment plant Wang Xiao Ying in Hefei has a capacity of 300,000 m3/d
14 (more than 1.3 million pe). Due to the deteriorating water quality of the receiving lake Chao, the
15 effluent limits have been lowered to TN<5 mg/l and TP<0.3 mg/l. These values are derived from the
16 surface water quality standard IV and are more and more commonly used throughout China. The
17 WWTP Wang Xiao Ying has been upgraded in 2016 and achieves very low effluent concentrations
18 despite being constantly overloaded and facing unfavourable C/N ratios. In 2018-19 the plant was
19 covered with solar panels to produce electricity and reduce the carbon-footprint of the plant. The
20 photovoltaic plant has an installed peak capacity of more than 10 MWp and covers up to 30% of the
21 plant's electricity demand. The solar power plant is one of the largest inner-city installations in China.
22
23 Keywords
24 nutrient removal; sensitive catchment area; effluent standards; emissions; electricity demand; solar
25 power
26
27
28 INTRODUCTION

29 Wastewater Amount

30 Following the rapid economic development and urbanization over the past three
31 decades in China, the wastewater amount has increased significantly. Figure 1 shows
32 the total wastewater production in different regions of China (NBSC, 2020). The
33 specific wastewater production shows large regional variability between 100-
34 160 l/capita/d. This can be attributed to the different water stress and economic
35 development levels in these regions.
36
37
38 Figure 1: Urban Wastewater production in regions of China
39
40 The wastewater quality differs from other regions in the world. Figure 2 shows the
41 statistical evaluation of the main pollutant concentrations from two studies covering
42 municipal wastewater treatment plants in 2012 and 2016 respectively (Sun, Chen, et
43 al., 2016; Qi, Yang, et al., 2020).
44

45
46 Figure 2: Urban wastewater quality in China
47
48
49 Wastewater Infrastructure

50 The length of the sewer system continues to increase in all regions of China. Between
51 2011 and 2017 the total urban pipe length increased from 414,100 km to 630,300 km
52 (NBSC, 2020). The sanitary sewer, combined sewer and stormwater sewer make up
53 38%, 21% and 41% respectively. The specific pipe length is relatively low with 0.8-
54 1.6 m/capita compared to 6.8 m/capita in the United States and 6.1 m/capita in
55 Germany (Huang, Liu, et al., 2018). This can be partially attributed to the higher
56 population density and the expansion of cities due to the urbanization trend in China
57 (Mumbengegwi, Li, et al., 2018).
58 As can be seen in Figure 3, the total number of wastewater treatment plants
59 increased parallel to the expansion of the sewer system in the decade to 2018 more
60 than three-fold (Lu, Wang, et al., 2019). More than 90% of the treatment plants have
61 secondary and tertiary treatment stages to meet advanced effluent requirements.
62 According to the national policy the connection rate to wastewater treatment plants in
63 big cities and county towns shall be increased to 95% and 85% respectively until 2020
64 (NDRC, 2016). Within this framework it is foreseen to add a capacity of 50.2 million
65 cubic meters per day and upgrade treatment plants with a total capacity of 42.2
66 million cubic meters per day (Jiang, Hua, et al., 2020).
67

68
69 Figure 3: Number of WWTPs and total sewer length in China
70
71 While wastewater treatment plants in China mostly adopt international best practice
72 technologies such as activated sludge treatment with nutrient removal, there are some
73 differences due to the wastewater composition and other local conditions. Contrary to
74 international practice most treatment plants in China neither have primary
75 sedimentation nor anaerobic sludge digestion facilities (Qu, Wang, et al., 2019;
76 Zhang, Yang, et al., 2016).
77
78
 79 Legislation

80 With the increasing amount of wastewater particularly in the densely populated

81 regions of China the environmental stress to surface waters became more and more
82 severe. Since the connection rate to wastewater treatment plants was originately
83 relatively low, the early regulatory emphasis was on controlling discharges into the
84 sewer system. The national standards for discharge into the sewer (CJ 343-2010)
85 defined relatively low limits for COD and BOD5 at 500 mg/l and 350 mg/l
86 respectively. This was meant to encourage pre-treatment but ultimately contributed to
87 the low pollutant concentrations of municipal wastewater in China today (Liao, Hu, et
88 al., 2015).
89 According to the surface water quality standard GB 3838-2002 the waters are
90 categorized in China into five classes from class I the best to class V the worst
91 quality. 64% of the rivers in China are within class I-III, 19% in class IV-V and 17%
92 below class V (Han, Currell, et al., 2016). Therefore, the deteriorating quality of
93 surface waters especially in the water scarce northern regions of China led to the
94 introduction of more stringent effluent limits. The effluent requirements for municipal
95 wastewater treatment plants are issued in a national standard GB 18918-2002. The
96 standard defines four effluent classes for the main pollutants and sets limits for more
97 than forty other parameters. The primary classes (grade 1A and 1B) include the
98 removal of phosphorous and total nitrogen. The secondary and tertiary classes (grade
99 2 and grade 3) do not require total nitrogen removal.
100 For large wastewater treatment plants only grade 1A and 1B are relevant today (Hu,
101 Zhao, et al., 2018). Furthermore, provincial and local governments are encouraged to
102 set more stringent limits (Lu, Zhou, et al., 2016). This possibility is now more and
103 more used to set lower standards for certain river basins. There are today more than
104 twenty river basin related discharge standards in seven provinces (Yan, 2019). A
105 special national priority is the reduction of nitrogen emissions into lakes that suffer
106 from eutrophication (NDRC, 2016).
107 One example for advanced regulation is the discharge standard for municipal
108 wastewater treatment plants in the capital Beijing DB 11/890-2012. This standard sets
109 limits for BOD5 and total phosphorous as low as 4 mg/l and 0.2 mg/l respectively
110 (Table 1).
111
112 Table 1 Main parameters in Effluent Standard
National Standard a) b) Beijing Standard a) c) d)
GB 18918-2002 DB 11/890-2012
grade 1A grade 1B grade 2grade 3 grade A grade B
COD 50 mg/l 60 mg/l 100 mg/l
120 mg/l 20 mg/l 30 mg/l
BOD5 10 mg/l 20 mg/l 30 mg/l60 mg/l 4 mg/l 6 mg/l
SS 10 mg/l 20 mg/l 30 mg/l50 mg/l 5 mg/l 5 mg/l
c) 5 mg/l 8 mg/l 25 mg/l 1 mg/l 1.5 mg/l
NH3-N -
(8 mg/l) (15 mg/l) (30 mg/l) (1.5 mg/l) (2.5 mg/l)
TN 15 mg/l 20 mg/l - - 10 mg/l 15 mg/l
TP 0.5 mg/l 1 mg/l 3 mg/l 5 mg/l 0.2 mg/l 0.3 mg/l
a)
measured in 24h-composite samples
b)
values in parenthesis for wastewater temperature ≤12°C
c)
values in parenthesis for winter period December to march
d)
limits for new (upgraded and expanded) municipal wastewater treatment plants
113
114 In addition to the tightening of effluent limits, the enforcement of the regulations is
115 also getting more and more stringent. In 2015 the penalties for non-compliant effluent
116 have been significantly increased (Lu, Du, et al., 2017).
117
118
119 Land Requirements and Energy

120 Due to the rapid urbanization and metropolitan growth in China, many wastewater
121 treatment facilities that used to be in sparsely populated parts of the cities are now
122 surrounded by residential areas (Sun, Lin, et al., 2019). Therefore, greater attention is
123 paid to noise and odour emissions from treatment plants. A recent trend for new
124 wastewater treatment plants is the completely covered or underground installation. In
125 2018 there were approximately 50 underground WWTPs in operation or under
126 construction in China.
127 The main driving force for the complete coverage of treatment plants seems to be
128 the impact on the surrounding real estate prices (Wang and Gong, 2018). However,
129 the space requirement is a general concern in China. The unit land occupancy for
130 large treatment plants (>200,000 m3/d) varies between 0.6-0.8 m2/(m3/d). The unit
131 land occupancy is approximately 30% higher for plants meeting grade 1A standard
132 compared to grade 1B. Only one third of the total occupied space is used for the
133 activated sludge and secondary sedimentation tanks. Between 50-60% of the total
134 land is used for roads and greenery (He, Zhu, et al., 2018).
135 The specific energy consumption for large WWTPs in China can be in a wide range
136 of 0.14-0.44 kWh/m3 (Zhang, Yang, et al., 2016). Whereas the specific demand tends
137 to decrease with increasing size of the plant, no meaningful correlation between
138 specific energy and COD in different regions can be observed (He, Zhu, et al., 2019).
139 Due to the more stringent effluent requirements the specific energy demand can be
140 expected to increase in future. In order to improve the energy balance of the treatment
141 plants a number of measures can be considered. Internationally the most commonly
142 used approach is the use of anaerobic sludge digestion and the production of electrical
143 energy from digester gas in a combined heat and power station (Smith, Liu, et al.,
144 2018). However, only 3% of the treatment plants in China are equipped with digesters
145 and a low organic content in the sludge is commonly believed to prevent the
146 successful application of this technology in China (Qu, Wang, et al., 2019). While
147 anaerobic digestion has a higher theoretical potential to recover energy by reducing
148 the organic load for aeration tanks and producing electricity from gas, most treatment
149 plants are also well suited for photovoltaic electricity production (Smith, Liu, et al.,
150 2018).
151 In California (USA) more than 40 WWTPs are already equipped with photovoltaic
152 solar panels providing 8-30% of the electricity demand of those plants. However, only
153 one of these plants has an installed peak capacity of more than 1 MWp (Strazzabosco,
154 Kenway, et al., 2019). China has generally favourable conditions for the use of solar
155 photovoltaic panels with an annual average solar radiation of 1,597 kWh/m2/a (Yang,
156 Wei, et al., 2020). Solar photovoltaic installations pose a significant potential to cover
157 the electricity demand for WWTPs in China (Xu, Li, et al., 2017).
158
159
160 WWTP WANG XIAO YING (HEFEI)

161 Background

162 Hefei is the capital of Anhui Province, situated 400 km west of Shanghai. The city has
163 a total population of 7.87 million inhabitants and an urban population of 3.9 million.
164 It lies in the catchment of Lake Chao which is among the five largest freshwater lakes
165 in China. Due to rapid urbanization and development in the past decades the quality
166 of the lake deteriorated. In order to reduce the nutrient load to the lake, several large
167 wastewater treatment plants have already been upgraded in recent years. There are
168 currently ten WWTPs in Hefei with a total design capacity of 1,535,000 m3/d. This is
169 equal to a specific treatment capacity of 195 l/cap/d and is above the regional average
170 wastewater production for East China.
171 Wastewater treatment plant Wang Xiao Ying (WWTP WXY) is located south-east
172 of the city centre. Construction of the first stage with a capacity of 150,000 m3/d
173 began in 1993 and operation started in 1998. The second stage with the same design
174 capacity was built between 1998 and 2001. The plant was designed as a conventional
175 activated sludge plant with preliminary treatment (screening and grit removal),
176 biological treatment with enhanced biological phosphorous removal and excess
177 sludge dewatering. Each stage has three parallel lines in the secondary treatment stage
178 with a total number of six activated sludge tanks and twelve secondary sedimentation
179 tanks. Since the start of operation, the plant has been upgraded in several steps and the
180 surrounding area has developed substantially. Whereas the plant was originally
181 located in a rural environment, it is now bordered on three sides by residential
182 buildings.
183 In 2016 the plant was upgraded to meet the new effluent standards. A tertiary
184 treatment stage with precipitation and filtration for phosphorous removal and post-
185 denitrification for nitrogen removal as well as a UV-disinfection stage were added.
186 Furthermore, a water reclamation stage with ozonation was installed.
187 The Hefei government privatized the plant under an international tender as a
188 tranfer-operate-transfer (TOT) project in 2004. A consortium led by the German
189 utility Berlinwasser won the contract as one of the first international PPP projects in
190 the wastewater sector in China. The original operation period under the contract was
191 23 years and has been extended to a total of 30 years in connection with the upgrades
192 of the plant. In the 2011 Berlinwasser sold its shares and the plant is now wholly
193 Chinese owned.
194
195
196 Technology

197 Raw wastewater is first treated in a conventional preliminary treatment stage with
198 screening and grit removal. The secondary treatment stage starts with an anaerobic
199 zone for enhanced biological phosphorous removal. The activated sludge tanks are
200 meandering loop-reactors. The original design did not include anoxic zones. With the
201 upgrade of the plant approximately half of the total volume has been converted to
202 anoxic zone for denitrification. The tanks in the first stage are equipped with surface
203 aerators while the second stage has been converted to fine bubble aeration. Secondary
204 sedimentation is executed with twelve circular tanks.
205 The excess sludge is thickened and dewatered with belt filter presses. The
206 dewatered sludge cake is transported to a disposal site. The effluent from secondary
207 treatment stage is split in two tertiary treatment lines. Approximately one third of the
208 flow is treated in a conventional denitrification filter followed by ozonation and an
209 optional sodium hypochlorite disinfection. The remaining wastewater is treated with a
210 continuous denitrification filter followed by UV disinfection.
211
212
213 Wastewater Quantity and Quality

214 The design capacity of WWTP WXY is 300,000 m3/d. Normally treatment plants are
215 designed to cater for daily, weekly and seasonal variations in the flow rate. With a
216 typical design ratio in China for peak flow to daily average of Qpeak / Q24 = 1.3 the
217 average daily flow rate should be expected to be well below the design capacity.
218 Indeed, the average utilisation rate of WWTPs in China is 83% (Zhang, Yang, et al.,
219 2016). In Figure 4 the actual daily wastewater flow of WWTP WXY is shown. As can
220 be seen, the plant is continuously overloaded by an average of 17%. Compared to the
221 average Chinese utilisation the plant receives 40% more wastewater.
222

223
224 Figure 4: Wastewater quantity WWTP WXY
225
226 The pollutant concentrations in China are typically lower than in other regions of
227 the world. The median raw wastewater concentrations in China are COD = 232-
228 239 mg/l, BOD5 = 98 mg/l, TN = 29.2-30.2 mg/l and TP = 2,8 mg/l (Qi, Yang, et al.,
229 2020; Sun, Chen, et al., 2016). In Figure 5 the influent concentrations for COD,
230 BOD5, TN and TP are shown in comparison to the national median, 25-percentile and
231 75-percentile. With a median influent concentration of COD = 193 mg/l, BOD5 = 78
232 mg/l, TN = 33 mg/l and TP = 3,3 mg/l, the concentration of organic material is 18-
233 20% below the national median whereas the nutrients concentration is 11-18% above
234 the median.
235
236
237 Figure 5: Pollutant concentrations in influent and effluent of WWTP WXY
238
239 The effluent requirements for WWTP WXY and comparative requirements are
240 summarized in Table 2. A special emphasis is the removal of nutrients. The total
241 nitrogen requirement is particularly challenging since the available easily
242 biodegradable BOD5 required for denitrification is very low. While the design ratio
243 of organic material to total nitrogen was (BOD5 / TN)design = 5.0, the median ratio is
244 (BOD5 / TN)median = 2.4 only. Furthermore, the regulation of COD effluent
245 concentration seems to have a higher priority in China compared to other countries. If
246 the share of industrial wastewater with non-biodegradable COD is higher, the effluent
247 limits may face technical constraints with conventional activated sludge processes.
248
249 Table 2 Effluent Requirements
parameter Hefei WWTP DB11/890– GB 18918- Contract values EU-Directive
WangXiaoYing 2012 2002 at privatization 91/271/EEC
Grade A 1A c) 2004 (>100,000pe)
COD 30 mg/l a) b) 20 mg/l 50 mg/l 60 mg/l 125 mg/l c)
BOD5 6 mg/l 4 mg/l 10 mg/l 20 mg/l 25 mg/l c)
SS - 5 mg/l 10 mg/l 20 mg/l 35 mg/l c)
Turbidity 5 NTU - - - -
8 mg/l
NH3-N 1.5 mg/l 10 mg/l 15 mg/l -
(15 mg/l)
TN 5 mg/l b) 10 mg/l 15 mg/l - 10 mg/l d)
TP 0.3 mg/l c) 0.2 mg/l 0.5 mg/l 1.5 mg/l 1 mg/l d)
a)
influent wastewater dissolved nondegradable COD < 20mg/l
b)
monthly average;
c)
daily average
d)
annual average
250
251 In Figure 6 the median effluent concentration for WWTP WXY is given together
252 with median, 25-percentile and 75-percentile of WWTPs in China (Qi, Yang, et al.,
253 2020). The median effluent concentrations for BOD5, COD, NH3-N, TN and TP are
254 57%, 32%, 88%, 61% and 76% lower compared to the national average.
255

256
257 Figure 6: Median effluent concentrations of WWTP WXY
258
259
260 Noise and odour emissions

261 Air emissions from WWTPs are regulated in China in the same standard that defines
262 effluent limits. WWTP WXY is categorized under the second class emission standard
263 with limits at the site boundary of NH3 < 1.5 mg/m3, H2S < 0.06 mg/m3, odour units <
264 20 and CH4 < 1 mg/m3. The plant must meet the second class of the noise emission
265 regulation GB-12348-2008 with a daytime limit of 60 dB(A) and at night less than 50
266 dB(A) at the boundary of the plant.
267 Since the residential buildings now directly border the plant, noise and odour
268 emissions became more important. Therefore, a number of measures were
269 implemented to reduce the emissions. In order to reduce air emissions, the preliminary
270 treatment stage was encapsulated, and the anaerobic zone of the secondary treatment
271 stage was covered. The waste air is collected and treated in a biological filter.
272 For noise reduction a comprehensive analysis of the sources was undertaken. Some
273 formerly open air motors were covered. Overflow weirs at the secondary
274 sedimentation tanks and other channels and tanks were also a significant source of
275 noise. Therefore, these areas were covered too. The conversion of the second stage
276 from surface aeration to fine bubble aeration also greatly contributed to the reduction
277 in emissions. In a section where residential buildings are particularly close, a noise
278 protection wall has been erected.
279
280
281 Energy

282 In 2018/2019 the activated sludge tanks and secondary clarifiers of WWTP WXY
283 have been covered with solar photovoltaic panels to produce electricity. The activated
284 sludge tanks of the site cover a space of 6.84 ha and the secondary sedimentation
285 tanks occupy an area of 4.21 ha. On a combined area of 11.05 ha a total of 60,000 m2
286 of photovoltaic panels were installed. The installed peak power totals 10.7 MWp.
287 The average specific electricity consumption of WWTP WXY in 2019 was
288 0.31 kWh/m3. This compares well with the national average range for plants of
289 similar size and secondary treatment process of 0.14-0.44 kWh/m3 (Zhang, Yang, et
290 al., 2016). Taking into account, that WWTP WXY is the first to achieve the advanced
291 nutrient limits, the specific energy can be considered to be relatively low.
292

293
294 Figure 7: Electricity production and installed panel area
295
296 As the installation was ongoing during the year 2019, the full-year potential for
297 solar PV electricity production on the site of WWTP WXY has been simulated
298 (World Bank Group, 2020). Figure 7 shows the actual electricity production in 2019
299 and the progress of panel area installation. The actual share of the consumed
300 electricity of WWTP WXY and the simulated value is shown in Figure 8. The annual
301 average coverage of solar energy is 22%.
302
303
304 Figure 8: Share of solar PV electricity on total consumption
305
306 With the installation of the solar photovoltaic panels in 2019 both, the noise and air
307 emissions are further reduced. This can be seen as a secondary benefit of the cover.
308 The panels now shield the surface aerators in stage 1 from the surrounding high-rising
309 buildings. Although, the installation is not designed as a closed cover, wind loads on
310 the surface of activated sludge tanks are greatly reduced. This can effectively reduce
311 the dispersion of aerosols.
312
313
314 CONCLUSIONS

315 While the increase in municipal wastewater production slowed down in China in
316 recent years, the focus in wastewater treatment shifted from building up new capacity
317 to upgrading plants and improving the effluent quality. Stricter regulations are
318 implemented especially for the catchment areas of big lakes and some sensitive rivers.
319 Total nitrogen and phosphorous effluent concentrations are now often below
320 international levels.
321 The wastewater treatment plant Wang Xiao Ying is the first large plant (design
322 capacity 300,000 m3/d) in China that has implemented effluent standards that were
323 derived from surface water quality standards. With an effluent total nitrogen
324 concentration of TN < 5mg/l, total phosphorous concentration of TP < 0.3 mg/l and
325 COD < 30 mg/l the plant is one of the foremost examples of advanced treatment both
326 nationally and internationally.
327 As the vast majority of treatment plants in China do not have anaerobic digestion
328 facilities, the most promising way to reduce the overall electricity demand and carbon
329 footprint is the installation of solar photovoltaic panels. A peak capacity of 10 MWp
330 has been installed in WWTP Wang Xiao Ying covering the entire secondary treatment
331 stage and delivering more than 20% of the annual electricity demand of the plant.
332
333
334 REFERENCES

335 Han, D., Currell, M. J., and Cao, G. (2016) Deep challenges for China’s war on water
336 pollution. Environmental Pollution, 218, 1222–1233.
337 He, Y., Zhu, Y., Chen, J., Huang, M., Wang, G., Zou, W., Wang, P., and Zhou, G.
338 (2018) Assessment of land occupation of municipal wastewater treatment plants in
339 China. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, 4(12), 1988–1996.
340 He, Y., Zhu, Y., Chen, J., Huang, M., Wang, P., Wang, G., Zou, W., and Zhou, G.
341 (2019) Assessment of energy consumption of municipal wastewater treatment plants
342 in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 228, 399–404.
343 Hu, K., Zhao, Q. L., Chen, W., Wang, W., Han, F., and Shen, X. H. (2018)
344 Appropriate technologies for upgrading wastewater treatment plants: methods review
345 and case studies in China. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A,
346 53(14), 1207–1220.
347 Huang, D., Liu, X., Jiang, S., Wang, H., Wang, J., and Zhang, Y. (2018) Current state
348 and future perspectives of sewer networks in urban China. Frontiers of Environmental
349 Science & Engineering, 12(3), 2.
350 Jiang, H., Hua, M., Zhang, J., Cheng, P., Ye, Z., Huang, M., and Jin, Q. (2020)
351 Sustainability efficiency assessment of wastewater treatment plants in China: A data
352 envelopment analysis based on cluster benchmarking. Journal of Cleaner Production,
353 244, 118729.
354 Liao, Z., Hu, T., and Roker, S. A. C. (2015) An obstacle to China’s WWTPs: the
355 COD and BOD standards for discharge into municipal sewers. Environmental Science
356 and Pollution Research, 22(21), 16434–16440.
357 Lu, B., Du, X., and Huang, S. (2017) The economic and environmental implications
358 of wastewater management policy in China: From the LCA perspective. Journal of
359 Cleaner Production, 142, 3544–3557.
360 Lu, J.-Y., Wang, X.-M., Liu, H.-Q., Yu, H.-Q., and Li, W.-W. (2019) Optimizing
361 operation of municipal wastewater treatment plants in China: The remaining barriers
362 and future implications. Environment International, 129, 273–278.
363 Lu, X., Zhou, B., Vogt, R. D., Seip, H. M., Xin, Z., and Ekengren, Ö. (2016)
364 Rethinking China’s water policy: the worst water quality despite the most stringent
365 standards. Water International, 41(7), 1044–1048.
366 Mumbengegwi, D., Li, T., and Muhoza, J. P. (2018) An Overview of Sewage
367 Treatment Rates in Chinese Cities. International Journal of Waste Resources, 08(02).
368 [online] https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/an-overview-of-sewage-treatment-
369 rates-in-chinese-cities-2252-205211-1000333-100989.html (Accessed January 29,
370 2020).
371 NBSC (2020) National Bureau of Statistics of China: Annual Data. [online]
372 http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/Statisticaldata/AnnualData/ (Accessed January 31,
373 2020).
374 NDRC (2016) The 13th Five Year Plan for economic and social development of the
375 people’s republic of China (2016-2020), [online]
376 https://en.ndrc.gov.cn/policyrelease_8233/201612/P020191101482242850325.pdf
377 (Accessed February 1, 2020).
378 Qi, M., Yang, Y., Zhang, Xiaoyan, Zhang, Xiaoqian, Wang, M., Zhang, W., Lu, X.,
379 and Tong, Y. (2020) Pollution reduction and operating cost analysis of municipal
380 wastewater treatment in China and implication for future wastewater management.
381 Journal of Cleaner Production, 253, 120003.
382 Qu, J., Wang, H., Wang, K., Yu, G., Ke, B., Yu, H.-Q., Ren, H., Zheng, X., Li, J., Li,
383 W.-W., Gao, S., and Gong, H. (2019) Municipal wastewater treatment in China:
384 Development history and future perspectives. Frontiers of Environmental Science &
385 Engineering, 13(6), 88.
386 Smith, K., Liu, S., Liu, Y., and Guo, S. (2018) Can China reduce energy for water? A
387 review of energy for urban water supply and wastewater treatment and suggestions for
388 change. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 91, 41–58.
389 Strazzabosco, A., Kenway, S. J., and Lant, P. A. (2019) Solar PV adoption in
390 wastewater treatment plants: A review of practice in California. Journal of
391 Environmental Management, 248, 109337.
392 Sun, S., Lin, H., Lin, J., Quan, Z., Zhang, P., and Ma, R. (2019) Underground sewage
393 treatment plant: a summary and discussion on the current status and development
394 prospects. Water Science and Technology, wst2019429.
395 Sun, Y., Chen, Z., Wu, G., Wu, Q., Zhang, F., Niu, Z., and Hu, H.-Y. (2016)
396 Characteristics of water quality of municipal wastewater treatment plants in China:
397 implications for resources utilization and management. Journal of Cleaner Production,
398 131, 1–9.
399 Wang, M. and Gong, H. (2018) Not-in-My-Backyard: Legislation Requirements and
400 Economic Analysis for Developing Underground Wastewater Treatment Plant in
401 China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(11),
402 2339.
403 World Bank Group (2020) Global Solar Atlas, [online]
404 https://globalsolaratlas.info/maps=31.839131,117.301837,10&pv=medium,180,25,10
405 700.
406 Xu, J., Li, Y., Wang, H., Wu, J., Wang, X., and Li, F. (2017) Exploring the feasibility
407 of energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment plants: a case study in eastern China.
408 Energy Procedia, 142, 3055–3061.
409 Yan, C. (2019) The research on present situation and formulation of water pollutant
410 discharge standards of river basins in China. IOP Conference Series: Earth and
411 Environmental Science, 237, 022044.
412 Yang, X., Wei, J., Ye, G., Zhao, Y., Li, Z., Qiu, G., Li, F., and Wei, C. (2020) The
413 correlations among wastewater internal energy, energy consumption and energy
414 recovery/production potentials in wastewater treatment plant: An assessment of the
415 energy balance. Science of The Total Environment, 714, 136655.
416 Zhang, Q. H., Yang, W. N., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W. S., Jin, P. K., Dzakpasu, M., Yang,
417 S. J., Wang, Q., Wang, X. C., and Ao, D. (2016) Current status of urban wastewater
418 treatment plants in China. Environment International, 92–93, 11–22.
419
420
421 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

422

423
424 Figure 09: Urban specific wastewater production in regions of China
425

426
427 Figure 10: Regional COD concentration in raw wastewater
428
429
430 Figure 11: Development of sewer network in China Regions
431

432
433 Figure 12: Development of number of WWTPs for different effluent standards
434
435
436 Figure 13: Specific energy demand of WWTPs (data from period 1984-2013)
437

438
439 Figure 14: Specific energy demand as a function of COD raw wastewater (data from period 1984-2013)
440
441
442 Figure 15: WWTP Wang Xiao Ying (Hefei) in 1994
443

444
445 Figure 16: WWTP Wang Xiao Ying (Hefei) in 2014
446
447
448 Figure 17: Process scheme of WWTP Wang Xiao Ying
449

450
451 Figure 18: Wastewater quantity and share of tertiary treatment lines
452
453
454 Figure 19: COD concentrations in influent and effluent of WWTP WXY
455

456
457 Figure 20: BOD5 concentrations in influent and effluent of WWTP WXY
458
459
460 Figure 21: TN concentrations in influent and effluent of WWTP WXY
461

462
463 Figure 22: TP concentrations in influent and effluent of WWTP WXY
464
465
466 Figure 23: Removal rates of WWTP WXY
467

468
469 Figure 24: Odour control measures, encapsulated preliminary treatment
470
471
472 Figure 25: Odour control measures, cover on anaerobic zone
473
474

475
476 Figure 26: Noise control measures, effluent weir cover
477
478
479 Figure 27: Noise control measures, noise prevention wall
480

481
482 Figure 28: Solar photovoltaic panels during installation
483
 484

485
486 Figure 29: Specific energy consumption and COD in WWTP WXY
487

488
489 Figure 30: Daily variation of power potential as monthly averages
490
491

View publication stats