AFTER a 219-million-yuan (US$35 million) cleanup effort, completed in 2010 as part of a major civic improvement program in advance of the 2011 Universiade Games, Xinzhou River still fails to meet national water quality standards.

    A recent audit revealed that a project contractor inflated the cost of gas pipeline relocation, declaring a cost of 2.1 million yuan. Auditors reduced that sum to 1.28 million yuan. Also, due to poor management about 2.7 km of electricity cable laid by the contractor was unusable. That delivered a loss of 370,000 yuan.

    The city undertook treatment of the heavily polluted Xinzhou River in 2008. The overall project included greening of river banks, landscaping and water supply and waste water interception.

    Shenzhen Municipal Water Resources Bureau admitted that total nitrogen and phosphorus failed to reach the Level V standards, even though the water quality in general was substantially improved.

    The project did successfully construct a diversion conduit which prevents sewage water from flowing into the river, while also using recycled water discharged from Binhe Sewage Plant to replenish the river.

    “The river flow is decided by seasonal rainfall and the quality of recycled water is inferior to the Level V standards. That is the reason the river’s water quality fails to reach the V level,” the water resources bureau stated.

    Experts expect the problem to be resolved in the future with the development of a major treatment plant for sewage water and wetlands.

    (Han Ximin)