Ministry of Ecology and Environment | Ningbo Zhuangqiao Purified Water Plant Selected as Part of the Fifth Batch of National Environmental Protection Facilities and Urban Sewage and Garbage Treatment Facilities Open to the Public

Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced the fifth batch of national environmental protection facilities and urban sewage and garbage treatment facilities open to the public. Ningbo Zhuangqiao Purified Water Plant was selected for its excellent performance in environmental protection facility construction and management, promoting public participation in environmental protection, and enhancing the transparency of environmental governance.

Ningbo was one of the first cities in China to open environmental protection facilities to the public. This time, 30 units in Ningbo made the list, the highest number in Zhejiang Province.

Zhuangqiao Purified Water Plant is Ningbo's first sunken reclaimed water plant and China's first plant with integrated above - and - underground development. It has a daily water treatment capacity of 150,000 tons. It started operation in June 2023. It solved the common "not - in - my - backyard" problem in sewage treatment plant construction. It created a new model for water environment governance and land use. It also provides high - quality reclaimed water for the surrounding area, greatly improving ecological governance and resource efficiency.

The plant uses a distributed and sunken reclaimed water ecosystem technology. Compared with traditional surface plants, it has several advantages. First, it is environmentally friendly. The underground plant effectively isolates secondary pollution like odors and noise. Its regular opening changes the public's fixed cognition of sewage treatment facilities, turning them from "not - in - my - backyard" facilities into shared "benefit - in - my - backyard" spaces.

Second, it is land - efficient. A sunken plant takes up about 50% less space than a conventional surface plant. The surface land can be reused. This "space exchange" achieves efficient land resource use and improves the area's environment and value. Unlike conventional surface green spaces or wetland parks, the plant's surface area is developed into an intelligent manufacturing industrial park. This model is a domestic first and provides a reference for national urban environmental facility planning.

Since its operation in 2023, the plant has received more than 100 visits from about 2,000 people. As Ningbo's ecological civilization education base, it has built a "science popularization + research study + interaction" three - dimensional scene. It promotes environmental education from "one - way output" to "two - way empowerment." With tangible ecological civilization practices, it helps Ningbo build a "waste - free city" benchmark and injects new energy into the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.