With support of the New Development Bank (NDB), a delegation from the Government of Himachal Pradesh, India, led by Mr. Abhishek Jain, IAS, Secretary (Finance, Planning, Jal Shakti and Technical Education), visited Shengzhou city, Zhejiang Province, China from 27-29 April 2026. The visit focused on knowledge sharing with Shengzhou Water Group Company and provided exposure to the water sector projects in China financed by NDB.
Visit to the Smart Water Management Center. The delegation visited the smart water management center, which was developed with financing support from New Development Bank under the Zhejiang Green Urban Project (19CN01). The center focuses on monitoring key water infrastructure assets, including reservoirs, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and pumping stations, enabling effective supervising, control, and management of water supply and wastewater services in Shengzhou city.
The Shengzhou Water Group Company manages the water system through real-time data monitoring, covering nearly 100% of the city’s water supply network and around 72% of its sanitation system. As per the current estimate, the city is expected to achieve 100% smart metering coverage at the consumer level by 2030.
Visit to the Fenghuangke Water Treatment Plant. The delegation visited the Fenghuangke water treatment plant, which has a design capacity of approximately 3,000 m³ per day (3 MLD) and serves a population of about 11,000. The plant operates as a gravity-fed system, with raw water conveyed from a reservoir located approximately 10 km from the treatment facility, thereby reducing pumping requirements and associated energy costs.
Raw water turbidity, measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU), typically ranges between 30–50 NTU during the rainy season due to higher suspended solids in runoff, and around 10 NTU under normal conditions. Following treatment, the finished water turbidity is reduced to approximately 0.1–0.2 NTU, indicating a high level of treatment performance and compliance with potable water quality standards. The treatment process comprises coagulation, sedimentation, inclined tube (lamella) clarification, and rapid sand filtration, which together ensure effective removal of suspended particles and improvement of treated water quality.
Visit to the Fuxi Water Treatment Plant. The delegation visited Fuxi Water Treatment Plant, which was developed with financing support from New Development Bank under the Zhejiang Green Urban Project. The plant is located at Chongren town and has a design capacity of about 15,000 m³ per day (15 MLD), serving surrounding townships and peri-urban areas. Raw water is conveyed from Bantou reservoir through dedicated transmission mains and is gravity based. The plant utilizes advanced clarification and ceramic membrane ultrafiltration technology, producing high-quality treated water with low turbidity (about 0.01 NTU) while improving service reliability.
Visit to the Chongren Wastewater Treatment Plant. The delegation visited the Chongren Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was developed with financing support from New Development Bank under the Zhejiang Green Urban Project. The plant is located at Chongren town with a design capacity of 8,000 m³ per day. The key treatment stages at plant are (i) pre-treatment which screens the coarse and helps in removal of large solids and debris from incoming sewage, (ii) biological treatment using the anaerobic tank which removes organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorous, (iii) sludge treatment through sludge thickening tank and sludge dewatering house (sludge cake), and (iv) odor control through bio-filter deodorization system.
The plant maintains the Chemical Oxygen Demand – COD (which measures the amount of oxygen to chemically oxidize the pollutants present in water), nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in compliance with the applicable discharge standards of the Zhejiang province.
Visit to the Lingtoushan Water Supply Treatment Micro Station. The delegation visited the Lingtoushan Water Supply Treatment Micro Station, which provides potable water services to a population of approximately 2,000 people. To address challenges commonly faced in rural and high-altitude dispersed settlements—including unreliable water sources, variable raw water quality, power supply constraints, and high operation and maintenance requirements—small-scale micro water stations have been developed as a decentralized service solution.
This station has a design capacity of 329.5 m³ per day, with raw water sourced from the Tuanqiu Reservoir. It is equipped with an advanced ceramic membrane treatment system and operates under a fully automated unmanned management model, minimizing staffing requirements while ensuring reliable service delivery. The treatment process consists of air flotation, sand filtration, ceramic membrane filtration, and disinfection. Sodium hypochlorite solution is used as the disinfectant to ensure treated water meets drinking water quality standards.