At present, water supply safety in rural China is worrying, and the sewage treatment coverage there is far lower than that of cities and towns. As the state is accelerating comprehensive environment treatment in rural areas, the rural water affairs market has become a hotly-contested spot for major water enterprises, this competition promotes the upgrading of related products. As OringinWater is the earliest enterprise to enter the rural water affairs market, its revolutionary product in this field -- intelligent compact wastewater treatment system (CWT), has been rapidly upgraded and put into application, getting a head start again. 

On Oct.13, at the 7th China International Water Technology Expo held in Beijing, OriginWater R&D Center’s core expert panel introduced their second-generation CWT to the media and professional audiences present. According to reports, as a kind of integrated and efficient point-source sewage treatment equipment, the second-generation product outshines its first generation with highly-distinctive container-type structural design. The equipment is made up of four basic modules, which can be assembled at the user’s discretion according to the specific wastewater purification requirements and the actual situation on site.

Dr Li Suoding, chief expert of OriginWater R&D Center, introduces CWT to the media and professional audiences at Beijing International Water Expo

It is reported that, as an industry leader with its independently-developed membrane technology, OriginWater is the first high-tech environmental protection enterprise that thinks highly of rural sewage treatment market prospects. At the early stage of development, it earned its “first bucket of gold” through innovative development of rural sewage treatment equipment – CWT. Its first-generation CWT applied in Beijing rural areas focused on membrane process as the core, and its effluent water quality could reach the class IV of surface water, which was above and beyond other technologies’ capabilities. At the same time, the equipment was optimized and integrated to achieve intermittent operation according to the amount of water, for example, the capability to operate during the low electricity cost periods greatly reduces the power consumption and operating cost. 

In addition to technological innovation, OriginWater has also made innovation in its project model. It has adopted a “regional bundling” model for new-built plants (stations) -- “the enterprise constructs a plant/station, and the government sets up the pipe network”, and BOT for environmental service providers; for plants (stations) already built by the government, it entrusts operation to regional wastewater treatment facilities, successfully creating an exemplary road for wastewater treatment in rural China. OriginWater has invested in and built many typical rural sewage treatment projects, such as Beijing Miyun Shicheng Town sewage treatment station, Huairou Tanghekou sewage treatment project, and Mentougou Chenjiazhuang sewage treatment station, which are all prototypes of the current “clear water village” model.

As China continues to promote new countryside construction in order to more flexibly tackle the current difficult problem of rural sewage treatment, OriginWater has responded by updating and improving the first-generation CWT. The first-generation CWT can be installed above ground, or be built into an underground sewage treatment station, which is totally-enclosed with a small footprint, reducing the impact on the surrounding environment; upgraded on this basis, the second-generation CWT takes a step further in flexibility by adopting a container type design, which is more convenient for transportation and installation,  negating much of the infrastructure cost. 

In addition, it adopts a modular design inside, and can be assembled at the user’s discretion according to specific water treatment demand. For example, for the up-to-standard discharge demand for sewage treatment, the user can choose a combination of biochemical + MBR + self-control modules, with the water mainly for non-drinking use, such as greening, toilet-flushing, car-washing, floor-cleaning and landscape water utilization; for rapid, effective malodorous black water treatment, the user can choose a combination of large-size MBR + DF + self-control modules, i.e. mobile treatment equipment, which can make the effluent water’s quality reach class-III of surface water, being a “powerful weapon” for malodorous black water treatment; for water-deficient areas’ demand for cyclic utilization of household wastewater, the user can choose a combination of biochemical + UF + DF + self-control modules to form a new-water filter, which can realize quality-specific, batch-processing of household wastewater, where effluent water quality meets the needs for quality-based water utilization, such as irrigation, washing and drinking, thus achieving cyclic utilization of water in water-deficient areas and ensuring healthy drinking water for residents. The last combination is especially suitable for Northwest China because it can ensure good water in cisterns all year round. 

Inner Mongolia Hohhot’s integrated sewage treatment station adopts OriginWater’s second-generation CWT

As an innovative solution for rural sewage treatment, OriginWater’s first-generation CWT equipment has been put into use in over ten thousand villages nationwide, with a total treatment scale of nearly 100,000 m³/d. After being launched on the market, the second-generation CWT also shows a trend of large-scale application in the rural sewage treatment market. At present, apart from being quickly put into use in Beijing, Inner Mongolia and other regions, the second-generation CWT has also been put into the Sanya River upstream rural areas water treatment work in Sanya, Hainan, China’s first “Urban Repair & Ecological Restoration” pilot city, and this demonstration project is expected to fuel the CWT’s nationwide promotion and application.