Considerations on the issue of water reuse in eastern China plain brooky regions

Abstract

This paper summarises the characteristics of water systems in plain brooky regions of Jiangsu Province in eastern China, and discusses the water shortage issue resulting from water quality deterioration. It is emphasised that attention should be paid not only to the full treatment of wastewater and rainwater but also the proper disposal of treated wastewater which meets the national discharge standard GB18918-2002 but still contain significant amount of pollutants if compared with the national surface water quality standard GB3838-2002. To the plain brooky regions of Jiangsu Province, the discharged pollutant loads still significantly exceed the environmental capacity of the receiving waters even if all treated wastewater meet the first grade B limits of GB18918-2002, and the water pollution problem still cannot be really eliminated. Therefore, the disposal and utilisation of the treated wastewater need to be taken into consideration. Thus, this paper presents some considerations on the disposal of treated wastewater and management of urban rainwater, mainly concerning water reclamation and reuse, construction of ecological purification systems, strategy changes of wastewater and rainwater management, and the key technology selections.