WORK to eliminate black and smelly water from 61 rivers across Bao’an District is expected to be completed by Jan. 25, according to a government meeting.

The district launched seven major water treatment projects last year.

The seven projects cover three major areas — the Maozhou River’s Bao’an section, the Greater Airport Area and the Qianhai Tieshi area — which have the worst-polluted rivers in Bao’an.

Under the projects, 964 kilometers of sewage pipelines are expected to be built, 33 river courses improved, 2,650 drainage systems in communities renovated, 216.4 million cubic meters of river areas dredged and a 1,034-kilometer-long sewage pipeline network built.

Bao’an has vowed to clean up the water in 66 rivers, 200 drainage culverts and 71 lakes by the end of this year.

According to a district government work plan released earlier last year, the comprehensive treatment of the Maozhou River’s Bao’an section and rivers in the Greater Airport Area and the Qianhai Tieshi area is expected to be finished by June 30 next year, and the water quality of the rivers will reach the national standard for landscape water by Dec. 31, 2019.

According to Yao Ren, Bao’an Party chief, the district has invested a total of 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) on cleaning up rivers from 2016 to 2018 and will spend another 20 billion yuan this year. The water quality of the Maozhou River, previously one of the most notoriously polluted rivers, has been greatly improved. Ten once black and odorous rivers are no longer smelly.

The 41.6-kilometer Maozhou River, Shenzhen’s longest river, runs through Bao’an District and Guangming New Area in Shenzhen, as well as Chang’an Township in Dongguan, where a growing number of labor-intensive industries and migrant workers contribute to water quality degradation. The river’s drainage basin is home to about 3 million people.(SD News)