Waste water treatment and pollution control in the Liao River Basin

Excerpt

Rapid economic development and population growth in China go hand-in-hand with increasing urbanisation, involving growing mega-cities, industrialization, and intensified agriculture. As a result, natural resources are increasingly stressed and productive management strategies towards sustainable planning are urgently needed. Pollution containing hazardous substances for environmental and human health, depletion of water resources as a result of overexploitation, soil degradation and air pollution in mega-cities (such as Beijing or Shanghai) are increasing at an alarming rate. Consequently, the protection of aquatic ecosystems and the security of drinking water provision are becoming an increasing challenge in water management. The Chinese government recognized the importance and complexity of the situation and has initiated a program entitled “Major Program of Science and Technology for Water Pollution and Governance” (2006–2020) (Major Water Program). While shortages resulting from regional resource depletion have led to plans for large-scale water transport from distant water-rich areas of China (Water Diversion Project), the water quality problems in other areas require efficient, flexible, and site-specific solutions and overall management concepts. China is internationally cooperating with many countries to tackle the severe environmental problems and learning from their experiences. In particular, China can benefit from the lessons learnt in Germany concerning the rehabilitation of water resources in areas heavily affected by chemical industry and mining after the reunification in 1989. German–Chinese cooperation in water sciences started over 25 years ago and is dealing now with increasing challenges in the 21st century (Chen et al. 2015). Under the umbrella of “International Partnerships for Sustainable Technologies and Services for Climate Protection and the Environment” (CLIENT) under the “Research for Sustainable Development” framework programme the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF) started a series of research projects supporting the Chinese Major Water Program in several regions, the lakes, Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi, as well as the Liao River Basin (Fig. 1).

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