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ADB Approves Loan to Urban Water Supply, Wastewater Treatment Project

Posted on: Thursday, 21 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

ADB approves loan to urban water supply, wastewater treatment project

by Jiang Guocheng

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday it had approved a 100-million-US dollar loan to help improve the urban environment in Jilin Province, northeast China, by increasing wastewater treatment capacity and boosting potable water supply.

The project would also result in improved management and utilization of water resources in the upper Songhua River Basin, bringing about positive and trans-jurisdictional benefits in the neighboring province of Heilongjiang, the bank said in a statement.

The project will improve the environment, living conditions, and public health standards in the cities of Changchun, Liaoyuan, and Meihekou in Jilin Province by reducing water pollution, protecting water resources, and addressing water shortage through recycling effluent, it said.

The bank said it will expand the currently inadequate wastewater treatment and sewerage system in Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin, which would significantly reduce pollution in the Yitong, and Yongchun rivers which flow into the Songhua River. There will also be better control of floods from the Yongchun River.

A water treatment plant with a pumping station to extract water from the Shuanyuang reservoir will be constructed to improve and expand the water supply system of Shuangyang district, 46 km southeast of Changchun.

The district's current drinking water source is groundwater, which is depleting the aquifer beneath the city, resulting in land subsidence.

In Liaoyuan, where the aging water treatment and distribution system is suffering from persistent corrosion, two water treatment plants and the distribution network will be upgraded, along with the aging drainage/sewerage network.

Sangay Penjor, an ADB principal financial specialist, said about 3 million urban residents will benefit from the improved water supply and wastewater services in Jilin.

Aside from the direct benefits to urban households, the project will help control pollution in the rivers flowing into the Songhua River Basin.

The basin has a catchment area of 557,000 square km and a population of 62 million.

The Songhua River, however, is one of the most polluted of the 47 major rivers in the China.

Contaminated with a number of organic chemicals, heavy metals, and other conventional pollutants, the river is considered unsuitable for municipal domestic water use.

ADB's loan, which will cover 43 percent of the project's total estimated cost of 232.2 million US dollar equivalent, comes from its ordinary capital resources. It carries a 25-year term, including a grace period of five years, the bank said.

The Jilin provincial government is the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion in December 2009.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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