Vital waterway gets another chance

Middle reaches

From its source, the river flows through Jingle and Loufan counties before entering Taiyuan.

With a population of nearly 4.5 million, and known for its coal production, the way in which the city handles pollution is key to keeping the river clean.

According to the deputy director of Taiyuan's ecology and environment bureau, in recent years, domestic sewage has been the main source of pollution on the Fenhe as it flows through the city.

Taiyuan has built a new sewage treatment plant and upgraded others to treat domestic waste to prevent it being directly discharged in the river.

The new plant, which was built in just 150 days, started operating in May. Since then, it has treated all domestic sewage discharged into the Fenhe.

Before it started operating, some 50,000 to 60,000 metric tons of sewage was directly discharged into the Fenhe every day, according to Zhang Jianwei, head of the city's urban and rural management bureau.

On May 16, the day after the plant opened, water quality at the Wennanshe inspection station on the Fenhe rose to Grade V. The goal for the province this year is to improve water quality to Grade V.

The inspection station is a national-level test center monitoring water quality on the Taiyuan section of the Fenhe. The new plant can handle 350,000 tons of sewage a day, and the city's seven sewage plants can cope with 1.25 million tons daily. However, they usually treat 1.1 million tons of sewage every 24 hours.

Li Guiqin, a Taiyuan native and provincial television station anchor, said: "According to the lyrics of a folk song, the Fenhe River is always flowing. However, some years ago, I saw that it had dried up and had no runoff. Now, the river is flowing freely once again."