After years of exploration and research, Tianjinhas become the model city for water conservation.In 2005, Tianjin was named as “the waterefficientcity” by the Ministry of Housing andUrban-Rural Development (the former Ministryof Construction). Tianjin has become the rolemodel for other cities, in terms of water saving.

The total volume of water resource in Tianjin is1.569 billion cubic meters. With the imported andtransferred water counted in, the water ownershipper capita of the city is only 370 cubic meters.Tianjin’s water supply depends on the transferredwater from rivers outside the city, namely the LuanheRiver and the Yellow river. The gap betweensupply and demand is prominent.

It is obvious that the water-conservation effortin Tianjin has worked. In 2007, water consumedfor every 10,000-yuan GDP is 47 cubic meters,and that for every 10,000-yuan industrial valueaddedstands at 16.15 cubic meters. And the reuseratio of industrial water has increased to90.95 percent, which has reached the domesticadvanced standard. According to the Ministry ofWater Resources, Tianjin has been listed as thefirst provincial water-conservation pilot city onthe east-middle line of South-North water transferproject.

Firstly, the Tianjin government promotes the water-saving campaign through legislation. Tianjinhas promulgated and implemented 21 relevantlocal regulations and laws, which have effectivelysafeguarded and supervised water-saving work.

With the power and function to adjust the economicstructure, the Tianjin government haseliminated industrial techniques, which are waterintensified, inefficient in water usage, water pollutingand energy intensified. The city also controlsthe planting of water-consuming crops. InTianjin 60 percent of the effective irrigated areasadopt water-saving measures and technologies.Water-saving priorities go to the segments, suchas electronic, metallurgy and petrochemical industries.Tianjin has upgraded the techniques ofthe water-cooling circulative system for 200 enterprisesso that the concentration rate is raisedto 3.5 times than the original 2 times.

The research on water-saving technologies hasalso effectively promoted the development of awater-efficient city. Series of state-level projectshave been settled in Tianjin. All of them arebased on the independent innovation, focusingon the key technologies about seawater usage,sewage resource transformation, industrial wastewater treatment, membrane material, domesticwater, and agricultural water-saving system. Tianjinhas also proposed the trans-departmental,trans-regional, trans-field subject research onwater conservation.

The development of recycling water has alsomade the progress. At present, 170,000 tons ofrecycling water can be treated in depth everyday. The city has laid 238 kilometers of pipes forrecycling water in down town area, with about27 million square meters of inhabited areasequipped with two pipes in their houses. Onepipe is for common water, while the other forrecycling water. Preliminarily, the system for recyclingwater supply has taken shape.

Retaining rain and flood water has also attractedgreat attention in Tianjin. With engineeringand non-engineering measures, Tianjin hasestablished the flood management system. In2007, the volume of the retained rain and floodapproximately accounted for 8 percent of totalwater supply in the city, effectively replacing thewater resource which should be transferred fromthe Luanhe River.

Meanwhile, this year, Tianjin has already setthe new target of establishing a water-efficientsociety. The primary task is to facilitate the constructionof 10 systems, which involve the waterownership system, resource management, waterefficientindustry, economic adjustment, publicparticipation, multi-source water assignment,water saving within each industrial segment,the ecological and environmental protection ofwater, water-saving laws and water-saving technologies.Tianjin would try to reach the assessmentcriteria of the water-conservation city, andaccomplish the task of constructing a nationalwater-conservation pilot society.Those goals have already gone into a series ofdetailed data: The proportion of people whocan drink safe water in the countryside is toincrease to 70 percent; the water scarcity ratein the normal year to be controlled below 10percent; all waste water drained from industrialenterprises meet relevant discharge standard;the processing ratio of city sewage stands atleast 80 percent, while the utilization ratio of therecycling water is higher than 20 percent; peopleno longer over explore in-depth undergroundwater, and the volume of underground water extracteddecreases to 20 million cubic meters; theecological environment of water to be improved,and the basic need of water for the essential watereco-system can be ensured.