City’s water plan paves way for a better future

SHANGHAI is well on the way to save more water for a sustainable future, authorities said yesterday during the online opening ceremony for this year’s water-saving awareness week.

According to the city’s water bureau, a total of 7.6 billion cubic meters of water was consumed in 2019, 13 percent less than the previous year. The daily average water usage is 123 liters per person. A maximum of 39,800 cubic meters of water was saved in one day.

“Shanghai achieved steady progress in conserving water last year by implementing more than 1,100 protection measures, and we hope to continue this path to a sustainable future,” said Xu Jian, director of Shanghai Water Bureau.

Jieshuitong, an app for raising awareness of saving water was launched during the ceremony, allowing users to obtain the city’s latest information on water services and measures.

‘Sponge city’

With the help of big data and cloud computing, a new smart management system was developed to keep water usage monitored, and prepare for emergencies.

More than 120 key companies and institutions have been equipped with the smart system by the end of last year, including the Pudong International Airport, Shanghai University of Engineering Science and Renji Hospital.

Changning District has lead the way in the city’s “sponge city” plan, which includes a form of sustainable drainage systems designed to capture and utilize rainwater to reduce floods.

At Xinjingliucun, one of the demonstration communities in Changning, a sponge project includes rainwater storage and purification facilities built under greenery, water-permeable cement stone and a dry creek.

Its resident committee said they’ve been promoting the service of micro-water car washing, which saves about 120 liters of water every day.

At the Hongqiao airport, the multifunctional operation of two rain-sourced reservoirs have been awarded best utilization of non-traditional water resources.

The reservoirs have a total storage capacity of 300,000 square meters.

The collected rain reaches the national water standard of IV, which can be used for washing airport runways and cleaning restrooms.