Analysis and Countermeasure of Water Pollution Treatment in the City of Chongqing, Upstream of the Three Gorges Reservoir in China

Abstract

Once the watermark of the Three Gorges Dam project is raised to 175-meters by 2009, the fast flow rate of Yangtze River will turn into slowdown, which lowers the self-purification capacity and environmental capacity of the reservoir. Even if pollution load would not increase, the water environment in the area could also be deteriorated. Chongqing is a municipality of China, which locates on the upstream Yangtze River and covers 80% districts of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, its sewage treatment only began to start in recent years. Because of the important role Chongqing plays to insure water quality security for the Three Gorges reservoir's sustainable development, the central government of China and Chongqing's local government together devote 19.521 billion Yuan RMB into constructing the infrastructure of sewage treatment and eco-environment around the reservoir to improve water quality during 2001-2010. By the end of 2004, 23 urban sewage disposal plants had been built gradually and are running normally at present. However, a few problems exist in actual operating, including organization, running mechanism, facility's selection, and wastewater collection etc., which are obviously worth discussing to be a reference substance for next phase construction. Through data gathering and investigation, a broad overview of wastewater environment protection in the city of Chongqing is presented, and the problems are analyzed and explored, and some suggestion on improving the eco-environment of the Three Gorges reservoir is put forward.