IN addition to the 1,152 kilometers of sewage pipeline that has already been installed in Shenzhen this year, the total length of sewage pipelines built in 2017 will reach 1,900 kilometers by the end of the year, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Water Affairs Bureau on Monday.

The city’s original goal was to build 5,938 kilometers of wastewater pipelines by 2025, but the bureau is now ahead of schedule and the projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2019. At present, Shenzhen is almost half way to its target.

The update was made by the bureau at a meeting summoned by eight deputies of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress. The meeting was in regards to water management and flooding issues in Shenzhen.

One of the deputies, Li Jichao, raised a question of the city’s three-year construction project to separate used water from rain water. Zhong Weimin, deputy director of the water affairs bureau, answered that a special office has been set up to speed up the process of fixing water problems.

Liang Yi, a section director from the bureau, said that the city has built 2,485 kilometers of sewage pipelines since 2015 and the goal of this project is to collect sewage water at where it is discharged. To achieve this, sewage pipelines must be widely distributed.

Flooding has been a vexing problem in Shenzhen, especially during the rainy season when many roads are prone to flooding, which will leads to traffic congestion and economic losses.

Cao Guangde from the bureau said that all new construction sites in Shenzhen are ordered to comply with all requirements in support of improved drainage, and old buildings will also be requested to consider undergoing renovation to meet the requirements.

Guangming New Area is currently implementing a “Sponge City” trial and has mapped out 79 sub-projects to achieve its goal. Nearly 30 percent of the plan has been carried out so far.

There are currently 170 areas identified as vulnerable to flooding in Shenzhen. Data collected from monitoring devices show that backed-up water usually drains in 20 to 30 minutes, but in many places, especially underground Metro stations, are easily affected for longer.

The city’s railway department said it would work with the water affairs bureau to check the progress of the sewage pipelines around the Metro stations in particular and clear up objects that might cause flooding.

Other possible solutions were also discussed during the meeting.

In terms of fiscal investment, both the municipal and district-level governments will make contributions to water treatment and flood prevention, said officials from the finance departments. Each year, the municipal authority normally puts 300 to 500 million yuan (US$45.31-75.52 million) towards maintenance. (Zhang Qian)