Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, June 06, 2003
More Sewage Treatment Plants Operational in Three Gorges Reservoir Area
Seven more sewage treatment plants will go into trial operation this month in the area of the Three Gorges reservoir, which began storing water on June 1, according to Zhang Yong, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal environmental protection bureau.
Seven more sewage treatment plants will go into trial operation this month in the area of the Three Gorges reservoir, which began storing water on June 1, according to Zhang Yong, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal environmental protection bureau.
The seven plants are located in Chongqing, southwest China.
Prior to the start of water storage, six sewage treatment plants had begun trial operation in the reservoir area, including three in Chongqing and three in central China's Hubei province.
The 13 above-referenced operational plants are among the country's first 23 sewage treatment plants in the reservoir area. Of the remaining ten plants, seven are expected to be operational by the end of the year and the other three, by next year.
Nineteen of the 23 plants are in Chongqing, and the other four are in Hubei province.
Prior to June 1, 17 waste disposal plants or landfills, 13 in Chongqing and four in Hubei, had commenced operations.
A total of 39.3 billion yuan (approximately 4.75 billion US dollars) has been set aside for water pollution prevention and control and ecological protection at the Three Gorges reservoir and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
The Three Gorges dam project, which was initiated a decade ago,is due to be completed in 2009.
At significant cost, more than 200 sewage and waste treatment plants or landfills will be built in the reservoir area and the upper reaches of the Yangtze by 2010 to cope with pollution, said an official with the State Environmental Protection Administrationon Wednesday.