Guizhou Daily | China Water Environment Group and "Guardian Granny" Lei Yueqin Join Hands to Protect Guiyang''s Mother River

The great nation carries great responsibilities

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China incorporated the construction of ecological civilization into the overall layout of the "Five-sphere Integrated Plan" for advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics. The 19th National Congress of the CPC further enshrined the consciousness that "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" into the Party Constitution. The 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed that "Chinese-style modernization means a modernization where humanity and nature coexist harmoniously".

Over the years, Lei Yueqin has witnessed and remembered the determination and efforts of the Party and the government in the governance of the Nanming River.

In 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Lei Yueqin wrote a letter to the motherland expressing her great enthusiasm for being grateful to the Party, following the Party's words, and walking with the Party. She signed off as "Your daughter: Lei Yueqin".

In July 2022, on the occasion of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, 86-year-old Lei Yueqin proudly joined the Communist Party of China, fulfilling her long-cherished wish to become a party member.

"Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China's ecological civilization construction has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic changes, which has strengthened my belief in joining the Communist Party of China," Lei Yueqin wrote in her party application.

The scenery of Jiaxiu Tower is picturesque.(Photo provided by Guiyang River and Lake Protection Center)

Lei Yueqin said, "In the past, I was just an ordinary citizen who simply wanted to do something to protect the mother river. But now, I am not only a citizen but also a party member. "

Let's go back to 2012. Since 2012, a total of 7.591 billion yuan has been invested in the governance of the Nanming River, and nearly 40 million yuan in ecological compensation has been received.

In Lei Yueqin's view, the ecological debts must be repaid sooner or later, and "the pains of transformation are inevitable; we must be accountable to our descendants".

"Only when the rectification is in place today can this 'ecological meal' be held firmly and enjoyed heartily in the future," she added. This long-term account and overall account are calculated wherever the cadres of Guiyang go.

Senior engineer He Long of the Guizhou Business Division of China Water Environment Group has been involved in the design and construction of underground water reclamation plants multiple times.

After 2014, with the first successful experience in the construction of the Qingshan Water Reclamation Plant, everyone had greater confidence in the governance of the Nanming River.

Qingshan Water Reclamation Plant (Photo by Zhou Qilun)

In He Long's work computer, there are hundreds of gigabytes of inspection, design, construction pictures, and plans of underground water reclamation plants.

He Long is very familiar with the bottleneck of the Nanming River governance: with the high population density in the central urban area of Guiyang, building surface-level water reclamation plants, for land-scarce urban areas, is extremely challenging.

Once this difficulty is overcome, it will provide a "Guiyang model" for the governance of urban rivers in other cities in China.

"Digging foundations, we may dig into groundwater at any time," He Long said. Guiyang's karst landforms are densely distributed, and during construction, water can only be pumped out while digging foundations.

The expert team from China Water Environment Group has spent more than 10 years studying the successful application of underground water reclamation plant construction and technology on the Nanming River. It has been recognized by the National Development and Reform Commission,the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

In the following years, 34 water reclamation plants were built on the Nanming River, including 17 distributed underground water reclamation plants, with a domestic sewage treatment rate of 98.42%, continuously supplying reclaimed water to the Nanming River 24/7, 365 days a year.

Among them, the Liuguangmen underground water reclamation plant is buried 32 meters underground, becoming the deepest fully buried "underground factory" in Asia.

Lei Yueqin discovered that underground water reclamation plants are all "hidden" underground, and both above-ground and underground spaces are effectively utilized.

The average water temperature of the treated sewage exceeds 10 ℃, and the thermal energy contained in the water has enormous utilization value.

Even in the cold winter, the office area of the Longdongbao Water Reclamation Plant in Guiyang maintains a temperature of over 18 ℃.

It turns out that sewage quietly provides heating. This water reclamation plant has established a sewage source heat recovery system, extracting energy from sewage to provide heating in the office area during winter and cooling during summer.

On the other hand, Hebin and other water reclamation plants are also actively exploring the reuse of treated water for municipal greening and irrigation purposes.

Currently, the governance of the Nanming River has become the "World's First Urban-scale Distributed Underground Water Reclamation Ecosystem Innovation Practice", creating four national firsts and being promoted in 22 provinces and cities nationwide, contributing to the governance of urban mother rivers with the "Guiyang model".

Many citizens are curious about where their daily household wastewater, such as water used for washing vegetables and clothes, goes.

The Guiyang Ecological Science Museum frequently hosts environmental theme activities titled "Visiting Water Reclamation Plants in the City".

Wang Jiyong, the founder of the Guiyang Qianren Ecological Public Welfare Development Center, met Lei Yueqin during an environmental protection event and the two like-minded individuals formed a profound friendship.

Learning about Wang Jiyong's challenging entrepreneurial journey, Lei Yueqin took out some "token of appreciation" from her retirement savings to encourage Wang Jiyong to persist in making this environmental public welfare organization bigger and stronger.

Taici Water Reclamation Plant (Photo by Zhou Qilun)

Seeing this spirited young man, Lei Yueqin seems to see her passionate self from years ago.

Today, the volunteer team of the Guiyang Qianren Ecological Public Welfare Development Center has spread across various cities and prefectures in Guizhou Province, with more than 40,000 recruited volunteers for the "Qingqing River" river and lake protection.

In 2022, the Guiyang River Management Office was renamed the Guiyang River and Lake Protection Center, becoming the largest river and lake protection unit in Guizhou Province.

Today, on the Nanming River, there are over 2,000 river chiefs at the provincial, municipal, county, township, and village levels. The "Dual Chief" system and "Double River Chief System" have been established. In Guiyang, all 11 national control sections for surface water meet the standards, with a compliance rate of 100% and an excellent rate of 100%.

"In these ten years, the Nanming River has become clearer and clearer! "

Under the sunshine, the Nanming River sparkles. Having worked for 26 years in species conservation, Yuan Guo is now a senior engineer at the Guizhou Institute of Biology. Every patrol record leaves a mark of the river's clearer waters:

Egrets forage on the Nanming River

The water quality has significantly improved. The coverage of submerged plants is 80%, with over 10 species of aquatic plants, up to 29 dominant fish species, and 33 genera of benthic animals. Even birds like the Chinese merganser, which have high water quality requirements, come here to forage and roost.

"The purpose of the Party is to serve the people. As a party member, I must always serve the people,"Lei Yueqin said. She feels happy now, having experienced all the ups and downs of life.

She constantly asks herself, "What more can I do? "

Inspired by her spirit, her family, her friends, and many people from various industries have become environmental volunteers like her. When she sees more and more volunteers in Guiyang taking up the relay baton, she feels the warmth of this city overflowing.