[Mainland China] The Ministry of Water Resources announced the final evaluation results of the pilot program for reclaimed water utilization allocation: 76 pilot cities have completed the program, with 10 advanced models and 14 typical cases to be promote

Lead Summary: Recently, the Ministry of Water Resources announced the final evaluation results of the pilot program for reclaimed water utilization allocation in typical regions nationwide: the pilot work launched by 2021年 six national ministries and commissions has fully concluded. From 76 pilot cities nationwide, 14 advanced typical cases were selected and 10 advanced models were distilled for nationwide promotion. A batch of distinctive practical examples from Suqian, Huaibei, Meizhou Island in Putian, Xinwu District in Wuxi, and others were showcased, providing directly replicable pathway references for the large-scale utilization of reclaimed water during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

Pilot Conclusion: Five Years of Exploration Deliver a Systematic Answer

2021年, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Water Resources, and four other ministries and commissions jointly launched the pilot program for reclaimed water utilization allocation in typical regions, and 76 cities including Suqian were selected as the first batch of national pilots in 2022年. After years of construction, the pilot cities carried out extensive exploration in the planning layout, facility construction, pricing mechanisms, and allocation systems of reclaimed water utilization. In this final evaluation, the Ministry of Water Resources systematically summarized the key experiences formed through the pilots, distilled 10 advanced models and 14 advanced typical cases, and promoted them nationwide.

From the published cases, the pilot results exhibit three distinctive characteristics:

• Utilization rates achieved solid improvement — By the end of 2025年, the reclaimed water utilization rate in Suqian's central urban area reached 28.8%, an increase of 8.2 percentage points compared to before the pilot; Huaibei's reclaimed water utilization rate increased from 25.2% to 45.0%; and Meizhou Island in Putian jumped from 0 to 81.8%, with reclaimed water utilization accounting for 60% of the island's total water consumption.
• Utilization scale significantly expanded — Suqian's total reclaimed water utilization reached 4491万 cubic meters; Huaibei's reclaimed water utilization increased from 2334万 cubic meters to 4911万 cubic meters, with 30% of the city's industrial water use being reclaimed water, and cumulative industrial reclaimed water utilization exceeding 3.6亿 cubic meters.
• Ecological value quantified and accounted for the first time — Suqian took the lead nationwide in establishing a value accounting system for reclaimed water ecological products, calculating the total value of reclaimed water ecological products at 12.83亿 yuan, of which the value of pollution reduction accounted for over 70%, truly making the "second water source" a measurable and tradeable ecological asset.

The Core Logic of Ten Advanced Models: Produce, Deliver, Utilize

Looking across the typical cases, the key to success in reclaimed water utilization allocation lies in connecting the entire chain of "production—distribution—consumption." The answer given by the pilot cities is differentiated water supply and networked allocation:

• Differentiated treatment, purification on demand — Suqian set up differentiated treatment processes according to different uses such as industrial, ecological, and municipal purposes, producing reclaimed water of different qualities to achieve "purification on demand, precise water supply," changing the previous extensive model of "one water quality for all purposes."
• Two-tier allocation network — Suqian built 115 kilometers of cross-regional tailwater diversion trunk pipelines, with 46 reclaimed water intake points built along the route, forming an "aorta + capillaries" pattern of "primary allocation near reclaimed water plants + secondary allocation over a larger area via trunk pipelines."
• Point-to-point industrial direct supply — Huaibei built a cumulative 78.3 kilometers of reclaimed water pipelines, including 72.6 kilometers of "point-to-point" pipelines. The thermal power industry achieved full replacement of production water with reclaimed water, and the replaced conventional water source can meet over 3年 of the city's residential domestic water demand.
• Plant—wetland—river ecological network — Huaibei implemented an integrated ecological project of "reclaimed water plant—wetland—pipeline network—rivers and lakes." Tailwater was stably upgraded to Surface Water Class III through constructed wetlands before being used for river and lake replenishment. The proportion of 4 surface water sections under national assessment with good water quality increased from 25% to 75%.

Pricing and Financial Mechanisms: Making Reclaimed Water "Profitable"

The innovations of the pilot cities in incentive mechanisms also deserve attention. These institutional designs answer the "economic feasibility" question that has long constrained the promotion of reclaimed water:

• Market-based pricing for reclaimed water — Huaibei City has liberalized government pricing for reclaimed water, implementing a tiered pricing and declining block rate mechanism, where "the more you use, the cheaper the unit price." At the same time, enterprises using reclaimed water are exempt from sewage treatment fees, reducing their burden by more than 4000万 yuan annually.
• Tangible incentives for technological upgrading — Huaibei City provides up to 10% in subsidies for industrial water-saving technological upgrading projects based on equipment investment, having supported 46 projects in total and disbursed 7815万 yuan in incentive funds.
• Green financial instruments — Promoting "water-saving loans," with cumulative credit lines exceeding 2.2亿 yuan; introducing social capital to participate in the operation of industrial park sewage treatment and reclaimed water projects.
• Ecological water replenishment payment mechanism — Meizhou Island was among the earliest in China to explore the "beneficiary pays" principle, setting the ecological water replenishment price at 0.8元/cubic meter based on "cost recovery + reasonable return," signing reclaimed water ecological replenishment service purchase agreements with metered settlement by volume.

From Pilot to Norm: The Industry Enters a Scaling-Up Window

The conclusion of the final evaluation is not the end. Suqian has clearly stated that its next step will focus on achieving breakthroughs in reclaimed water utilization by industrial enterprises; the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has previously issued documents to promote the "Suqian experience"; and cases such as Huaibei, Meizhou Island, and Wuxi Xinwu District are being recommended to various regions through channels of the National Water Conservation Office.

For the sewage treatment and reclaimed water reuse industry, the greatest significance of this round of pilots lies in the fact that reclaimed water utilization has moved from the "policy encouragement" stage to the "model replication" stage — 10 advanced models cover almost all typical scenarios, including water-scarce industrial cities, islands, industrial clusters, and plain river network areas, allowing local decision-makers to follow a proven roadmap. As the "Ecological Environment Code" writes sewage resource utilization into law and the draft revision of the Water Law explicitly incorporates unconventional water into the unified allocation of water resources, the construction and deployment of reclaimed water facilities during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period is expected to enter a phase of large-scale expansion. Professional service providers with capabilities in quality-differentiated water supply design, dual-membrane advanced treatment, point-to-point pipeline networks, and smart deployment will gain确定性 market opportunities.

About TIANYI TECH: TIANYI LIMITED has long focused on frontier developments in global water environment governance and water resource recycling, with deep engagement in technical information and industry services in the fields of sewage treatment and reclaimed water reuse, committed to providing timely and professional industry insights and solution references for clients and industry partners.