Beijing will install water-saving meters in 500,000 rural households within the next four years. 8,000 kilometers of aging pipe networks in rural areas will be upgraded to resolve problems such as insufficient hydraulic pressure as well as water leakage, officials from Beijing Water Authority said when interviewed by reporters from Beijing.gov.cn on June 25.

Renovation of indoor pipe networks in old communities is planned

In line with the “five infrastructure construction plan to develop Beijing’s new countryside (2009–2012),” starting from 2009, Beijing will upgrade 1,600 kilometers of aging pipe networks, and install water-saving meters in 500,000 rural households. The water-saving renovation project to install a water-saving meter in every household will involve 100,000 households, said Sun Qingsong, Vice Director at the water and electricity department of Beijing Water Authority.

Director of the water supply department of Beijing Water Authority Hu Bo noted that the average service lifetime of Beijing’s existing public pipe network is around 18 years. Along with the expansion of the city, there are many newly-established communities, but at the same time, many old communities constructed in the 1950s and 1960s still exist. According to relevant provisions of China’s Property Law, property owners or property management companies are responsible for applying to replace and maintain pipe networks in these old communities. Beijing Water Authority and relevant government departments are also studying countermeasures to renovate the indoor pipe network.

Yangtze water will replace self-dug wells in rurual Beijing

At present, 20 percent of water used by Beijing’s eight urban districts is still being supplied by self-supply wells. Deputy Director of Beijing Water Authority Zhang Ping said that self-supply wells will be gradually phased out as the city continues to develop. She noted that at present Beijing’s water pipe networks already cover Changping in the north, Tongzhou in the east, Daxing in the south and Shijingshan in the west. More than 500 self-supply wells will be phased out in the next four to five years.

Zhang noted that by 2014 when Yangtze water is routed to the city, Beijing will have sufficient water supply, and self-supply wells can be largely phased out.