Abstract
For the last 20 years, China has transformed itself from a rural economy into an industrial giant, averaging over 8 % annual growth of GDP. Unfortunately, this rapid growth has taken a significant toll on its natural resource base as well, particularly water resources. These problems have been exacerbated by a low level of sewage treatment technology and by the operating and maintenance (O&M). In case of urban areas, most big cities in China have a well functioning sewage system comprised of sewers and sewage treatment plants (STPs). Nevertheless, the existing STPs are still not capable of properly treating the sewage, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The rural areas in China cover a large land, with two-third of the nation's population. The low educational and poor economic states make it hard to process self-protection and management. In the surveyed area in Henan, there was no STPs put into use as of 2004, and the sewer lines are not well organized. The big issue for the currently planned STPs is the collection system not included in the plans.
