The "difficult use" of rural sewage pipe network needs to be solved urgently

"The domestic sewage has no place to go, it can only be poured on the street." When the reporter followed the inspection team and visited Fenglingdi Village, Dongliudu Village, Loufan Town and Yinjiayao Village in Jingyou Town, they saw the villagers carrying a full load. The basin of domestic sewage poured water directly onto the street. A villager surnamed Wu said that the main sewage pipeline into the village has been laid, but it is not connected to the household, which is of no use to him.

The visit found that, relying on their original household sewage outlets, the villagers discharged sewage directly onto the ground, and the residents facing the street directly discharged it onto the street. "Worrying about freezing on the road in winter, we have to open the heavy manhole covers and pour domestic sewage into the sewage pipe network." said a villager surnamed Duan. The reporter randomly inspected more than 10 villager households along with the inspection team, and there was not a single household connected to the sewage pipe.

"Everyone dumped sewage directly into the street, plus domestic garbage. When it was serious, the whole street would have a pungent smell." A villager told reporters that it is a good thing to build a network for sewage discharge, but it is now useless. "We want to use it too, but don't know what to do."

In Dongliudu Village, a villager surnamed Gao led the inspection team to inspect the sewage treatment station in the village. A small bungalow on the side of the road is equipped with sewage treatment equipment. The house is surrounded by a small piece of wasteland, and the site is nearby. The sludge formed by the sewage is clearly visible. "When it rained, all the water came out, it was all smelly water," the villager said.

The data obtained by the inspection team from the relevant departments of Loufan County shows that the rural sewage treatment project in Loufan County involves 13 villages, of which 10 villages’ projects will be completed and put into use in 2020, with an investment of nearly 20 million yuan; It is estimated that among these 10 villages, 4 have a pipeline entry rate of less than 10%.

The sewage pipe network benefits the people's livelihood and is essential for improving the appearance of the village. Why did the "last meter" at the door encounter "difficulty in connecting"? A village cadre in Xiangyang Village, Loufan Town, told the inspection team that in the original construction plan, household entry was not involved. "In other words, they are only responsible for laying the main network. As for whether to connect to the households and let the sewage pipe network play a practical role, it is not considered."

The village cadre also stated that the construction team did not take the initiative to contact the village when they were stationed. There were disputes with the villagers during the construction process. Once the villagers were dissatisfied because of the quality of the materials, the replacement was carried out after multi-party consultation. "What the government department is taking the lead in doing, it feels like our villagers are in charge of supervision."

With the intervention of the village democratic movement, more than 30 villagers living in Xiangyang Village purchased pipelines at their own expense and successfully connected them to the competent network. The members of the inspection team saw on the spot in Xiangyang Village that the secondary pipeline connected to the main network was more than 1 meter long, and the sewage treatment station in the village was operating normally, realizing the centralized and unified treatment of household sewage.

In Xingwangzhuang Village, Miyu Township, where the pipeline entry rate is 60%, villager Wang Yong told the inspection team members that his home is close to 4 meters from the supervisory network. The pipeline was purchased at his own expense, plus labor costs. 400 yuan, successfully connected to the supervisor network.

Ma Wenjie, deputy magistrate of Loufan County, told the inspection team that the construction of the rural sewage treatment project in Loufan County consists of a main sewage collection network and an integrated sewage treatment station. Due to the large investment in the construction of the household pipeline network, the county-level finance cannot afford it. , Not included in the construction content of the project.

"Some households close to the supervisory network took the initiative to purchase drainage pipes and connect them by themselves. However, if each household is connected, only one village may have to lay 20 to 30 kilometers of pipes, and the cost will be high. We worked on the masses in the early stage. There is a certain absence." Ma Wenjie said.

The construction of rural sewage treatment facilities and not use them may be inseparable from the high investment in rural sewage treatment, the lack of a stable financing mechanism, the lack of sewage discharge standards and technical systems, and the "reconstruction of light pipes" in some facilities.

——High investment and lack of a stable fund-raising mechanism. Rural sewage treatment basically relies on government financial investment, and social capital is not enthusiastic about participation.

According to reports, there are places where the annual sewage treatment cost is close to one-tenth of the fiscal revenue. Such high operating costs have obviously become an unbearable burden for the local government.

Industry insiders said frankly. To build a sewage treatment plant, the construction and installation price per ton of water should not be less than 1,500 yuan, and the closed technology is implemented, the construction and installation costs are even higher, and the cost of the supporting pipe network should be around 1,500 yuan. The construction cost is tens of millions of yuan at every turn, and the operating cost is millions of yuan per year. The burden of towns and villages is heavy. Even towns and towns with good economic conditions are very strenuous, not to mention that most of the collective economic incomes are currently meager.

——The lack of emission standards and related policies restrict practice. The treatment of rural sewage in various regions has just started in the past two years, and a unified standard system has not yet been formed at the national level. The discharge standards set by some leading provinces are mostly borrowed from urban sewage treatment standards.

The lack of certification bodies and certification systems for rural sewage treatment equipment is also a major constraint. For the same type of equipment, different manufacturers' products offer great differences. Due to the lack of technical standard certification, some local governments will inevitably have "confused accounts" when bidding.

——Operation and maintenance are not in place, and there is the problem of "reconstruction and light management". Rural domestic sewage treatment facilities have the characteristics of "three divisions of construction and seven divisions of management", which are easy to build, and their later operation, management and maintenance are generally shortcomings. Some rural domestic sewage treatment facilities are out of operation due to lack of follow-up management and protection funds and operation and maintenance personnel.

Take a village in the southeast coastal province as an example. In 2016, a professional company was commissioned to design and construct a set of multi-stage anaerobic and constructed wetland rural domestic sewage treatment facilities to treat the domestic sewage of 56 households in the village. However, the sewage treatment facility is currently out of service, and the constructed wetland is overgrown with weeds, which completely loses its purifying effect. According to the person in charge of the village, due to insufficient funding sources for operation and maintenance, there is no financial means to hire professionals to carry out the management and maintenance of sewage treatment facilities.

Rural sewage treatment is difficult. Except for the higher treatment rate in economically developed areas, other areas are generally low. "Sewage relies on evaporation" is still more common. The improvement of governance rate is a long-term process, and it is necessary to improve the policy and standard system, and innovate the construction and maintenance model.

The current rural sewage treatment funds mainly come from financial support, which is basically the government's support. We should explore the establishment of a diversified fund-raising mechanism. In addition to the country's moderate increase in "subsidies", other solutions should also be sought, such as government procurement of services. , Cooperating with social capital, etc., give full play to the leveraging effect of government investment, guide and encourage social capital to participate, and improve the efficiency of capital use. . Some professionals suggest that for towns and villages that do not have industrial enterprises and are close to the urban pipe network, the rural domestic sewage generated is limited. The method of decentralized construction of reservoirs should be adopted to reduce treatment costs through centralized pulling and transportation.

In response to standard issues, we must continue to promote the implementation of rural sewage discharge standards. With the promulgation of the "Notice on Accelerating the Establishment of Local Rural Domestic Sewage Discharge Standards" in September 2018, a new chapter in the establishment of my country's rural sewage discharge standard system has officially opened, and various localities have also taken actions and introduced policies. Currently, all 31 provinces across the country have Water pollutant discharge standards for rural sewage facilities have been issued.

Rural domestic sewage treatment is a livelihood project that benefits the vast rural people for a long time. A scientific and reasonable pipe network design is a prerequisite for ensuring the stable operation of sewage treatment equipment and meeting sewage discharge standards.

In view of the subsequent maintenance problems, the responsibilities of relevant local government departments and operation management units should be clarified, and the government should purchase services by professional companies to encourage the construction and maintenance of integrated operations of market institutions. The competent government departments should strengthen the supervision of the construction and operation of sewage and garbage treatment facilities, and put an end to idleness and shutdown.

Some experts pointed out that in rural sewage treatment, measures need to be adapted to local conditions, and urban sewage treatment models cannot be copied. In particular, the construction of pipe networks in rural sewage treatment requires careful design.

(1) Make the most of the situation. According to the village's actual topography, topography, population size, sewage discharge direction and other factors, formulate a sewage collection model based on the situation, and divide the drainage zoning system scientifically and reasonably.

(2) Simple and practical. In combination with local drainage practices, the newly designed sewage collection system plan should be able to make full use of the existing ditches and pipelines, and the pipe network construction method is simple and practical.

(3) High cost performance. On the basis of ensuring the effective collection of sewage, the direction and location of the main sewage pipe should fully consider the current topographical conditions and comply with the land use plan.

(4) Easy to manage and maintain. The lack of professional and technical personnel in rural areas should be fully considered, the number of sewage lifting pumping stations should be minimized or the use of power equipment should be avoided as much as possible, and pipeline construction and long-term operation management should be facilitated.