New wastewater treatment plant maximizes land use
A staff worker is monitoring the plant operation in the control room.
The Songjiang Western Wastewater Treatment Plant Phase III upgrade and expansion project has recently commenced operation.
Located in Xiaokunsan Town, the project employs an innovative semi-underground single-story design, which maximizes land use and reduces environmental impact. The upgraded plant's processing capacity has increased to 195,000 cubic meters per day, making it the largest wastewater treatment plant in Songjiang.
The semi-underground design uses less land resources, by approximately 24,500 square meters, compared to conventional above-ground buildings. Landscape greenery is incorporated into the structure and combined with Sponge City design, minimizing surface runoff and reducing runoff pollution.
Pipes, including sewage and sludge pipes, which were previously buried underground and had diameters of up to 1,400 millimeters and 300 millimeters, respectively, are integrated into a nearly 10-meter-deep underground structure.
"The third phase expansion project covers a total area of 4.5 hectares and saves one-third of the land used in conventional above-ground wastewater treatment facilities," said Ma Wei, the manager of Shanghai Songjiang Western Water Environment Purification Co Ltd.
The sewage treatment infrastructure has been reinforced and the software controlling sewage operation is more intelligent. In the central control room of the plant, not only can the plant's operation be thoroughly monitored, but real-time liquid levels and instantaneous flow rates are also intelligently managed.
"We have consolidated the control systems of phases I, II, and III into one control room, achieving automation and refinement of wastewater treatment," said assistant manager Jin Donghui. He added that in the past, remote water flow regulation could only be initiated by opening or closing a pump, increasing or decreasing the flow rate by a maximum of 1,000 cubic meters. "However, now it can regulate as low as 10 cubic meters, making water quality control more precise," he said.
