Bishui Sewage Treatment Plant, the largest water recycling plant in Beijing's sub-center Tongzhou District, began operation on June 30.
The new plant adopts a fully enclosed sunken design, and there are plans to build a park above the plant by the end of this year.
In 2015, the plant began upgrading which eventually increased its daily processing capacity from 100,000 tons to 180,000 tons, while saving 230 acres of land at the same time. After the transformation, the high-quality recycled water is used for replenishment of river channels, industrial cooling, and a few other applications.
A future park will include a piece of sunken green land that can absorb the rain and then purify it through the filtering effects of plants and sands, thus conserving underground water. In addition, the old plant will be transformed into a lake for sightseeing, and will be open to the public along with the park.
The plant was first set up in 2005 and is responsible for 84 percent of waste water treatment in Tongzhou District.