Challenges and practices

of decentralized domestic
wastewater treatment in
China
Dr. Meixue Chen

North Center for Rural Wastewater Treatment

Technology，Ministry of Housing and Urban-
Rural Development

July. 06, 2017

 Actions
13th Five-Year Plan: Rural Residential
Environment Improvement Actions

• Integration of urban and rural development

• The development of social undertakings in rural
areas
• Urban public services extend to rural areas
Rural household toilet renovation

Three kinds of patterns

• Black water treatment is preferred

• Health dry toilet
• Combination of rural sewage treatment
Case study: Septic tank
effluent

Influent

•Inexpensive
•Simple to maintain the first
tank
the second
tank
the third
tank

• Sludge may cause an odor problem

• Not effective in removing nitrate and
phosphorus and pathogenic organics
• Potential pollution source of
groundwater
 Ecological toilet
Separation of fecal and urine
 Advantages of decentralized
wastewater treatment
• Efficient treatment of daily wastewater
flows
• Low primary investment and management
costs
• Modular design of all components
• Tolerant towards inflow fluctuations
• Reliable and long-lasting construction
design
 Typical decentralized
wastewater treatment process

JOHKASOU
 Typical decentralized
wastewater treatment process
Rural areas

North east

North of China
North west
Middle south
West south
South of China
Types of decentralized wastewater systems

• Primary treatment
– Septic tank
• Secondary treatment----Biological technologies
– Biofilm
– Anaerobic digesters
• Eco-technologies
– Constructed wetlands
– Leach trenches
• Community Systems
Technical guide for rural domestic wastewater treatment
农村生活污水处理常用技术
in different regions
 Drainage destination
City Village
• Discharge
• Resource utilization
• Reuse
Technical guide for rural domestic wastewater
treatment in different regions
Northeast: septic tanks, anaerobic biofilter, bio-contact oxidation
tank, land treatment, constructed wetlands, lagoon

North China : septic tanks, sewage digesters, aeration tank, sequencing

batch bio-reactor, oxidation ditch, biological contact oxidation , constructed
wetlands, land treatment

Northwest :septic tank, anaerobic digesters, anaerobic biofilter,

constructed wetlands, land treatment

Southwest: septic tanks, wetland, land treatment, anaerobic technology,

bio-contact oxidation tank, oxidation ditch, anaerobic biofilter

Middle south: septic tanks bio-contact oxidation, oxidation ditch,

constructed wetland, lagoon, floating islands could be applied for sewage
treatment.

southeast: septic tank, anaerobic biofilter, anaerobic digesters; biological

contact oxidation tank, oxidation ditch, constructed wetlands, ecological
filter.
Decentralized technologies for rural wastewater
treatment in China
Rural wastewater

(31% spray drain, and

wastewater treatment)
 Typical modules in China
100%
23%
模式1：生物处理
80%
模式2：厌氧生物+生态处理
60%
模式3：好氧生物+生态处理
40%

16% 61%
20%

0%

MBR
化粪池

沼气池

氧化塘
厌氧生物膜

接触氧化池

活性污泥

人工湿地

土地处理
Needs for decentralized wastewater systems

1. Satisfy the demand of public health

and various water quality goals;
2. Economic suitability of processing
technologies;
3. Operation simple and easy routine
management.
Case study: Activated sludge

1m³,2m³,5m³,10m³,15m³/day

• Flexible for decentralize wastewater treatment

• Automatic control

• Expensive for single family

• management is relative complex
Case study: Constructed wetland
Plant
Water
distribution
Effluent

Waterbody
Grass

Wetland
Water-proof

• constructed cost

• flexible land use

Small-scale decentralized
system • Low removal rate
0.2-5m3/d • Management
Case study: Leach Trenches
A A’

Ф75mm

Ф110mm

覆盖层 碎石(Ф10-30) 砾石(Ф5-10) 粗虑层

细滤层 精虑层 PVC 管

• Constucted and operation simple

• Low cost

• pollution of groundwater
• Poor quality of effluent
Case study: anaerobic tank+ ladder eco-filter
7
HRT:10-20min
6
5 HRT:10-20min
1 8

2 9 HRT:20-30 min
3
10

11 4
HRT:30-60min 15 m3•d-1
12
• Energy save
Unit：mg/L
item COD
BOD5 NH4+-N TN TP SS
• Amonium and
Influent 400
phosprous removal
• Odor
150 25 40 4 200

Effluent 60
20 8 20 1 20
 Case study: Anearobic+ drop aeration + constructed
wetland

高位水箱

跌水挡板
DN40

DN100
管道外排

DN200
DN40
潜污泵
DN100 回流

厌氧池 tank
Anaerobic 接触氧化池
Oxic 人工湿地
Constructed wetland
Case study: Bio- rotation + vegetable tank

3～10t/d，COD concentration is 100～100mg/L

• Suitable in south area

• Vegetable management complex
Case study: Cluster system

Waster
water Discharge

Screen Biofilter Constructed wetland

• Cluster system
• 60m3/d，for 900 persons
• High quality of effluent • floor area: 250m2
 Decentralized wastewater systems
For COD removal

Aeration process

For nitrogen removal

Bio+Eco Treatment
Developing for decentralized system in China

•Policy
•Specifications
•R&D of technologies
•Long-term evaluation
•Operator training
 Situation
Four unities

Government

Purchase service
分散处理 Company Third party

Operator Supervision
Managements

• Funding
• Appropriate system design
and selection process
• Operator training
standards of on-site wastewater treatment
Standard system of on-site wastewater treatment
Technique code for village rehabilitation (GB-50445-2008)
Technical specification of wastewater engineering for town and
village (CJJ124-2008)
Technical Specification of wastewater treatment facilities for village
(CJJ/T163-2011)
Complete equipment for domestic wastewater plant (CJ/T 355-2010)
Technical guide for rural domestic wastewater treatment in different
regions
Technical Specification of wastewater treatment
facilities for village
(CJJ/T163-2011)
Main contents
How to choose the suitable technology for rural area?

1General provisions
2 Terms and symbols
3 General requirement
4 Treatment technologies
• Anaerobic biofilm tank
• Biological contact oxidation tank
• Biological aeration filter
• Oxidation ditch
• Rotating biological contactor
• Activated-sludge process
• Ecological treatment of wastewater
• Chemical phosphorus removal
• Disinfection
5 Wastewater treatment facilities in village
6 Wastewater treatment station in village
• Wastewater treatment station for COD removal
• Wastewater treatment station for nitrogen removal
• Wastewater treatment station for nitrogen and phosphorus removal
7 Construction and acceptance of engineering quality
• Complete equipment for domestic wastewater plant
(CJ/T 355-2010)
• Household sewage treatment plant
Main contents
Less than 50 M3/day Facilities Less than 2M3/day Facilities

• Discharge: Technologies P G
1 Anaerobic +biofilm √ ——
Biofilm 2 Anoxic- oxic biofilm √ ——
—— √
• Reuse：
3 Anaerobic digestion
4 Anoxic/ anaerobic
—— √
biofilm
MBR
Developing for decentralized system in China

Appropriate technology

Economic Environmentally Social

Affordable Sustainable Acceptable

•Investment •Environmental protection •Public health protection

•Population density •Resources conservation •Government policy and regulation
•Technology efficiency •Human settlement
•Water reuse
•Operation and maintenance
•Nutrient recycling •Planning
•Residuals management

May A. Massoud,2009
 Promotion Plan
—Funding
• PPP（Public-Private-
Partnership）
• The main body of construction and
operation management : Enterprises
• Local government is mainly to buy
services included in the annual budget
 Promotion Plan
—Classification technical guidance
Basic principle
classification, in situ reduction

The urban guiding the rural development

Decentralized treatment

Economic application, management is simple

36
Thanks for your attention!