On a planet marked by climate crisis, accelerated urbanization, and growing water scarcity, every urban infrastructure must transform into a pillar of resilience. Qingdao, a coastal city under pressure from pollution, population growth, and water stress, faces the same dilemma as other global metropolises: how to sustain its development without compromising the natural resource base that makes it possible. The urban market in China reflects a growing demand for water solutions: more than 60% of surface waters in Chinese cities are classified as insufficient in quality, and the treatment deficit in urban areas could exceed 10 million m³ per day. In this context, the Fenghe Ecological Sports Park emerges as a visionary and strategic response.
Its raison d’être is to reverse local water pollution, ensure urban sanitation, and create a space that combines social well-being with environmental efficiency. With an investment of 2.09 billion yuan, 910 acres of land, and the capacity to treat 300,000 m³ of water per day, the project transforms the baseline scenario: from untreated discharges into the Fenghe River to a system with digital and physical traceability under VWBA 2.0 principles. Each cubic meter treated equals the daily consumption of an average urban family, making the park a generator of tangible and measurable benefits. The strategic objective is clear: to position Qingdao as a benchmark for water resilience and to deliver on the Water Positive roadmap, ensuring additionality, intentionality, and traceability in all processes. The stakeholders involved are BEWG as developer and operator, the China Railway Fourth Engineering Bureau as constructor, and local authorities as regulators and external verifiers. Thus, Qingdao not only addresses a local need but also sends a global message: it is possible to regenerate the urban water cycle while improving quality of life and building ecological identity, linking the city with the Sustainable Development Goals and the targets of the 2030 Agenda.
The west coast of Qingdao faced continuous discharges of untreated wastewater into the Fenghe River, loss of wetland ecosystems, and an expanding urban population with limited green recreational spaces. The challenge was multiple: to stop pollution that degraded water quality, to provide modern sanitation for a rapidly growing population, and to restore public spaces for the community amid a deficit of green infrastructure. The opportunity was to transform this critical situation into a platform for urban and water regeneration through an integrated solution that combines advanced treatment technology with environmental restoration and social benefits. The underground treatment plant, with an initial capacity of 200,000 m³/day (expandable to 300,000 m³/day), was designed to operate invisibly beneath a 910-acre park that integrates restored wetlands, sports facilities, and environmental education spaces.
The treatment train includes modified Anaerobic–Anoxic–Oxic., advanced sedimentation, filtration, catalytic ozonation, and disinfection, producing effluents that meet Class IV standards (GB3838-2002) and are suitable for reuse in irrigation and urban services. In the short term, the solution eliminates pollution hotspots and provides sanitation for 112 km² of the city, preventing direct discharges into the Fenghe River. In the medium term, it secures a stable supply of reclaimed water for irrigation, improving the resilience of green areas and reducing pressure on freshwater sources. In the long term, it consolidates a replicable model for other coastal cities in China and globally facing pollution and scarcity challenges. Governance involves BEWG as developer and operator, the China Railway Fourth Engineering Bureau as constructor, and local authorities as regulators, with third-party verification and digital traceability systems ensuring additionality and intentionality. This model makes Qingdao a pioneer of the Water Positive strategy, demonstrating how one intervention can simultaneously address technical, environmental, and social challenges, and be scaled as an international reference.
Furthermore, the replicability of this model lies in its balance between gray and green infrastructure, the integration of digital traceability and shared governance, and a framework of clear benefits for all stakeholders. Companies adopting similar solutions not only achieve regulatory compliance and international visibility but also gain competitive differentiation in sustainability, strengthened ESG reputation, and access to new public-private partnership opportunities that enhance their leadership in the transition to a regenerative water economy.
Implementation is structured in stages that integrate the technical solution with risk control mechanisms, strategic justification, and replicability criteria. The core of the project is a large-scale underground biological treatment plant, designed to be the operational nucleus of the park and operate invisibly below ground. The configuration combines modified AAO processes, high-efficiency sedimentation, denitrification filters, catalytic ozonation, and final disinfection. Its initial capacity is 200,000 m³/day, expandable to 300,000 m³/day, equivalent to treating 109.5 million m³ per year, enough to cover the consumption of over one million people.
Risks identified include technological failures, hydrological variability, and potential social objections. To mitigate them, redundant systems for critical equipment, dual pumping, predictive failure algorithms, and contingency protocols such as temporary storage and emergency diversions were implemented. Environmental risks such as extreme floods or droughts are mitigated by the park’s green infrastructure and artificial wetlands, which act as natural buffers. Long-term resilience is ensured through real-time IoT monitoring, shared governance plans, and contingency protocols for events such as saline intrusion or water shortages.
The technical solution was selected after evaluating alternatives such as membrane bioreactors or surface plants. Although MBR offered compactness, the current configuration was prioritized for its operational robustness, scalability, and lower life-cycle cost at high flows. The intervention is hybrid, combining high-performance gray infrastructure with green infrastructure and digital management. This makes it suitable for the Fenghe basin context, where the level of risk requires replicable and scalable solutions. Selection criteria included technical efficiency, positive environmental impact, international replicability, and regulatory compliance, aligned with VWBA principles of additionality, traceability, and intentionality.
Expected benefits are quantifiable: up to 300,000 m³/day of reclaimed water, significant reduction of nutrients and pollutants, substitution of freshwater for urban irrigation, and improved effluent quality enabling secondary uses. Environmentally, the project reduces emissions, restores biodiversity, and lowers pressure on aquifers. Socially, it improves public health, strengthens food security through safe irrigation, and generates jobs linked to operation and maintenance. Economically, it reduces supply costs, increases operational resilience, and creates certification and ESG reputation opportunities for stakeholders.
In terms of scalability and replicability, the model can be applied in other coastal basins with pollution and water stress problems, provided there are regulatory frameworks and institutional will. Its cost/benefit indicators, combined with digital traceability and external audits, make it competitive against conventional alternatives. Public-private partnerships, technological cooperation, and community participation facilitate its expansion and consolidate Qingdao as a pioneer in Water Positive projects with global impact.
Implementation was carried out under a phased scheme, with an adaptive logic that allowed the design to be adjusted as work progressed and monitoring insights were incorporated. The first stage was a comprehensive baseline diagnosis, including water quality characterization, identification of system losses, associated emissions, and urban green space deficits. The second stage involved technical design, using BIM tools to anticipate construction conflicts, optimize underground structures, and ensure compliance with national and international standards. The third stage was construction, including excavation of a pit equivalent to the size of 4.5 frigates and the building of 66 interconnected underground units. In the fourth stage, the main equipment was installed, with a nominal capacity of 200,000 m³/day and expected performance of up to 300,000 m³/day in the final phase. Subsequently, commissioning and validation were carried out, confirming compliance with GB3838-2002 standards through laboratory tests and online monitoring. Finally, continuous operation was consolidated with a governance scheme involving BEWG as technical operator, municipal authorities as regulators, and citizens as beneficiaries.
The main technology selected was the modified Anaerobic–Anoxic–Oxic. biological process with advanced tertiary treatments, prioritized over alternatives such as MBR or reverse osmosis due to its robustness at high flows, scalability, and lower life-cycle cost. The control system includes flow meters, quality probes, IoT sensors, and a SCADA platform, enabling real-time monitoring of each stage of the process. Physical traceability of water is ensured through input-output balances, while digital traceability is guaranteed through automated reports, blockchain, and external validation by independent auditors. The system generates immediate alarms for deviations in critical parameters, activating contingency protocols.
Key performance indicators include treated flow, pollutant load reductions, reused volume, avoided emissions, and social perception. These are measured before, during, and after the project with accredited laboratory instruments, online sensors, and remote sensing techniques. Measurement frequency is daily for critical parameters and monthly for contextual indicators. The maintenance plan integrates preventive and corrective routines, complemented by predictive models that anticipate failures. Governance agreements define roles and responsibilities in operation, maintenance, monitoring, and validation, as well as protocols for the use of reclaimed water.
Monitoring is conducted with VWBA and WQBA reports that quantify m³ saved, regenerated, and pollutants removed, comparing with- and without-project scenarios. Continuous improvement mechanisms include process adjustments, data feedback, and technology updates. Benefit permanence is ensured through shared governance, periodic external validation, and a financing scheme covering the project’s entire life cycle.
The Fenghe Ecological Sports Park combines underground engineering, environmental restoration, and urban services in a high-impact intervention. The main intervention is the reuse of urban wastewater through advanced treatment processes that transform an environmental problem into a strategic resource. Technically, the plant integrates modified Anaerobic–Anoxic–Oxic. processes, advanced sedimentation, filtration, catalytic ozonation, and disinfection, with a capacity of 200,000 m³/day expandable to 300,000 m³/day. These facilities comply with national standard GB3838-2002 (Class IV), as well as aligning with international sustainability guidelines and ISO environmental management standards. Its 910-acre footprint includes both underground infrastructure and the surface urban park, benefiting thousands of users accessing recreational and educational spaces.
The relevance of the solution lies in a context where the community suffered untreated discharges and lacked green spaces. Compared to this baseline, the project eliminates pollutant discharges, provides reclaimed water for irrigation, restores wetlands, and offers a multifunctional urban park. It is suitable because it simultaneously addresses hydrological (water stress), environmental (pollution), and social (public space deficit) challenges. Concrete results include up to 109.5 million m³ treated annually, substantial improvements in water quality through reductions in BOD, nutrients, and coliforms, as well as additional benefits such as reduced emissions, biodiversity recovery, and improvements in public health and food security.
Strategically and commercially, the project strengthens BEWG’s Water Positive roadmap, provides tangible ESG benefits such as social license to operate, reputation, and competitive differentiation, and ensures regulatory compliance in water and environmental matters. It integrates into global commitments such as SBTi, NPWI, SDGs, and ESRS E3, showing how a water infrastructure can anchor corporate sustainability goals. Its replicability is high in other urban coastal basins with similar challenges, provided appropriate regulatory frameworks and governance conditions exist. Scalability is facilitated through alliances among operators, communities, governments, and technology companies.
The final expected impact is a more resilient water balance in the Fenghe basin, with improvements in climate resilience, job creation, access to safe water, community strengthening, and consolidation of Qingdao as a model regenerative city. The message it conveys to investors, clients, and society is clear: cities can regenerate from within, leading the transition to a circular and climate-smart water economy, aligned with VWBA 2.0 and the 2030 Agenda.
