By Rich Bowden:
The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) $US100 million loan to China’s Wuhan Province to help finance the Wuhan Urban Environmental Improvement Project is expected to act as a template for the country and the region, bank officials have said.
According to a July 1 ADB news release, the project “…will involve the treatment and disposal of sewage sludge, and the rehabilitation of polluted lakes and water channels, benefiting up to 3 million urban residents in the municipality.”
The Bank said it was confident the project will provide a model for wastewater sludge management in the country.
“This is the first ADB-assisted project to pursue comprehensive sludge management while addressing environmental issues such as developing ‘circular economies’ and mitigating climate change,” said Arnaud Heckmann, Urban Development Specialist, in ADB’s East Asia Department.
Wuhan already has a comprehensive wastewater treatment system in place, due in part through previous funding assistance from the ADB. However it is the waste sewage sludge generated by the treatment plants – estimated by the ADB to be 657 tons a day – which poses growing environmental and health hazards.
Project managers will tackle the problem by small on-site wastewater sludge units which will dovetail with the city’s wastewater planning. Recycling the sludge for use in construction materials and fertiliser will be an important goal of the project said the Bank’s statement.
“Sludge from Wuhan’s wastewater plants will be dried and treated using biogas from an ADB-financed wastewater facility and steam from a thermal power plant,” it said.
“In addition, the dried sludge will be used as a soil conditioner and filler for building construction materials, supporting the PRC’s push to create sustainable local economies that reduce, reuse and recycle waste. The project will advocate for beneficiary sludge treatment and utilization.”
The Environmental Project will also rehabilitate Wuhan’s waterways said Mr Heckmann.
“The measures will help to restore the natural hydraulic circulation between lakes and channels and increase water regeneration and flood retention capacities that will help mitigate climate change impacts, while allowing urban expansion in flood-safe and environmentally clean areas,” he added.
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