Challenges facing the management of wastewater treatment systems in Chinese rural areas

Abstract

The water environment in Chinese rural areas has seriously deteriorated to the extent that the development of rural areas is now under threat. To deal with this issue, the Chinese government has been promoting wastewater treatment systems (WTS) in rural areas since 2005. However, some of these wastewater treatment plants have shut down after just a few years. Thus, even though the number of newly built plants in rural areas has been rapidly increasing, the failure of these plants can impede the development of an efficient wastewater treatment in Chinese rural areas. This paper investigates the challenges faced by the management of the constructed wastewater treatment plants in Chinese rural areas using the case study method. Two cases, of Zhejiang and Hainan provinces, were analysed separately; the operation was successful in the former province and a failure in the latter one. The study demonstrates that the WTS in rural areas are faced with diverse implementation challenges, ranging from unsustainable financial sources for operation and maintenance cost to inappropriate governance structure, potential risks due to the local leadership rotation system of the government, limited participation by farmers in the management and technical complexity. HIGHLIGHTS Wastewater treatment systems are promoted in Chinese rural areas while many built systems have gradually fallen into ruin.; Financial sources for the O&M of wastewater treatment systems are always unsustainable.; The inappropriate governance structure, potential political risk, limited public participation and technical difficulties are all challenges in the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems.;

Keywords

• financial source
• governance
• rural area
• sustainability
• wastewater treatment system