[Mainland China] The Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment have been revised, incorporating reclaimed water into the unified allocation of water resources.

Introduction: The State Council published the 2026年8月8日 the "Decision of the State Council on Amending and Repealing Certain Administrative Regulations," amending the "Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment," and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the full revised text on 10月9日. The new version of the regulations explicitly states for the first time that "reclaimed water shall be incorporated into the unified allocation of water resources," and stipulates that in fields such as industrial production, urban greening, road cleaning, vehicle washing, building construction, and ecological landscapes, reclaimed water shall be used on a priority basis, while also strengthening requirements that sewage treatment fees shall not be lower than normal operating costs and that revenue and expenditure shall be disclosed to the public.

I. Revision Timeline and Core Changes

Since the "Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment" were promulgated on 2013年10月2日 as State Council Decree No. 641, they have been in effect for more than ten years. This revision takes place against the backdrop of the promulgation of the "Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China" and the nationwide shift in water environment governance from "compliance discharge" to "resource utilization," and is regarded by the industry as a reaffirmation of the sector's direction.

• Elevated status of reclaimed water — Article 37 of the revised regulations explicitly states that "reclaimed water shall be incorporated into the unified allocation of water resources," and water administrative departments of local governments at or above the county level must strengthen guidance in accordance with the law. This is the first time reclaimed water has been granted allocation status equal to conventional water sources at the level of administrative regulations;
• Mandatory priority use — In scenarios such as industrial production, urban greening, road cleaning, vehicle washing, building construction, and ecological landscapes, reclaimed water "shall be used on a priority basis," upgrading from an advocacy statement to a mandatory norm;
• Encouraging diversified investment — The state encourages the adoption of franchise operations, government purchase of services, and other forms to attract social capital to participate in the investment, construction, and operation of drainage and sewage treatment facilities.

II. Sewage Treatment Fees and Operational Supervision: Where the Money Comes From and How It Is Managed

The revised regulations make stricter arrangements for funding guarantees and supervisory assessment on the operational side, directly addressing the industry's long-standing pain points of "inverted fee structures and payment arrears."

• Floor for fee standards — Sewage treatment fee standards shall not be lower than the normal operating costs of urban sewage treatment facilities, with shortfalls subsidized by local governments;
• Dedicated funds for dedicated purposes — Sewage treatment fees shall be incorporated into local fiscal budget management and used exclusively for facility construction, operation, and sludge treatment and disposal, and shall not be diverted to other uses, with collection and usage disclosed to the public;
• Verification and disbursement of service fees — Urban drainage authorities shall verify operational service fees based on the performance of operational contracts and the results of supervisory inspections of effluent quality and quantity, and relevant departments shall disburse them promptly and in full;
• Exit mechanism — For operating entities that suspend operations without authorization, cannot operate safely, and fail to rectify within the deadline, the drainage authority may terminate the maintenance and operation contract and take measures to ensure the safe operation of facilities.

III. Planning First: Reclaimed Water Facility Construction Incorporated into Mandatory Coordination

The regulations require local authorities, when preparing drainage and sewage treatment plans, to coordinate the construction and renovation of facilities for reclaimed water utilization, sludge treatment and disposal, and rainwater storage, specifying scale, layout, sequencing, and construction land; once approved and published, plans shall be strictly implemented. This means that new sewage treatment plants must answer at the project initiation stage "who will receive the reclaimed water and how it will be used," forcing project design to shift from single-objective compliance discharge to integrated "pollution treatment + reuse."

IV. Industry Impact: The Reuse Sector Welcomes Top-Level Dividends

Industry analysis suggests this revision will bring three substantive impacts: First, investment in reclaimed water pipe networks and advanced treatment facilities is expected to accelerate, with water-scarce cities becoming the main market; Second, operational service fees will be linked to sewage treatment fees, with online monitoring data on water quality and quantity becoming the basis for settlement, benefiting enterprises with smart water operation and maintenance capabilities; Third, the mandatory requirement that industrial users "shall use reclaimed water on a priority basis" will create rigid demand for reclaimed water reuse and zero liquid discharge retrofits in industrial parks.

For enterprises deeply engaged in industrial water treatment and reclaimed water reuse, after the regulations take effect, how to intervene in planning at the early stage of projects and use AI and digital twin methods to ensure stable compliance of reclaimed water quality will become key competitive factors for participating in franchise projects.

About TIANYI TECH: TIANYI LIMITED is an innovative company focused on industrial wastewater treatment and water resource reuse systems, providing three major product modules — "Industrial Wastewater Treatment AI Agent, Industrial Water Reuse Optimization System, and Industrial Water System Digital Twin" — powered by AI platforms, IoT, and digital twin technologies. The company has delivered more than 120 industrial water treatment projects, treating 2.4亿 tons of industrial wastewater annually, with average per-ton water treatment costs reduced by 30%, and an effluent compliance rate of 99.6%, committed to "making every drop of industrial wastewater valuable."

Source: Full text of the "Regulations on Urban Drainage and Sewage Treatment" (2026年 revised version) from the official website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. This article is compiled based on public information and is for industry exchange and reference only.