In a world where the climate crisis and ecosystem degradation are redefining how we produce and consume resources, water has become the axis of economic and social stability. More than 3 billion people live under severe water stress, and 40% of the planet’s cities face an increasing risk of supply shortages. In this context, the Liangzi Lake Emergency Water Plant Project emerges as a bold and visionary response by the city of Wuhan and Hubei Province to ensure a safe and resilient water future. The initiative goes beyond building a treatment plant; it drives a new model of urban management based on resilience and innovation.
Located north of Niushan Lake, within the East Lake New Technology Development Zone of Wuhan, at the Tanmiao Water Plant in Minzui Village, this 3.421‑billion‑yuan infrastructure redefines the paradigm of urban water supply through a network of 50.4 kilometers of smart pipelines and three pumping stations. Its designed capacity of 500,000 tons per day equals the daily consumption of more than six million people, ensuring supply continuity even in the face of extreme weather events or contamination crises. Structured under a public‑private partnership (PPP) model with a 23‑year collaboration , 3 years of construction and 20 of operation, the project represents an example of modern governance and multisectoral cooperation.
Its rationale is rooted in the urgent need to diversify Wuhan’s water sources, historically dependent on the Yangtze and Han Rivers, which provide more than 90% of its supply. In the face of increasing demand and climate vulnerability, Liangzi Lake becomes a second strategic source that complements and balances the metropolitan water system. The plant not only guarantees quantity but also quality, using a state‑of‑the‑art technological process that combines pre‑oxidation, flotation, advanced filtration, and nanofiltration to produce safe drinking water.
This effort involves multiple actors: the Wuhan Water Affairs Bureau as the governing entity, operators and contractors specialized in environmental engineering, technology companies integrating BIM and artificial intelligence systems for operational traceability, and external verifiers ensuring compliance with international sustainability standards. Its alignment with the global Water Positive and the VWBA 2.0 methodology ensures that every cubic meter treated and distributed generates a verifiable net water benefit. Thus, the project meets the principles of additionality, traceability, and intentionality, demonstrating that water infrastructure can simultaneously be an economic engine, an environmental safeguard, and a symbol of cooperation toward a more resilient future.
The Liangzi Lake Emergency Water Plant Project represents a technical and strategic response to a metropolitan‑scale water challenge. Wuhan, historically supplied almost entirely by the Yangtze and Han Rivers, faces growing risks of contamination and drought that threaten the security of supply for millions of inhabitants. This project transforms that vulnerability into opportunity by incorporating a high‑quality alternative source , Liangzi Lake, and creating a dual supply system capable of withstanding extreme events and guaranteeing operational continuity.
Located in the East Lake High‑Tech Zone, the project combines technological innovation and sustainable design through an advanced sequence of pre‑oxidation, flotation, filtration, and nanofiltration, achieving a treatment capacity of 500,000 tons of water per day. This volume equals the daily consumption of more than six million people, making a tangible contribution to urban resilience and regional water security. The immediate benefits include reducing the risk of shortages, improving distributed water quality, lowering environmental impact, and strengthening the natural capital of the Yangtze Basin.
The initiative is made possible through collaboration between the Wuhan municipal government, the Water Affairs Bureau, and technological partners specializing in infrastructure and digital control. Leading environmental engineering and BIM‑AI solution firms guarantee total traceability, energy efficiency, and permanent monitoring. This public‑private model not only maximizes economic returns through resource optimization and supply stability but also enhances reputational and environmental returns by aligning with international sustainability frameworks.
The Liangzi Lake management model is fully replicable: it demonstrates that a city can ensure its water independence without compromising its environment, integrating advanced technology, collaborative governance, and a measurable Water Positive approach under VWBA 2.0. Acting now is imperative; every year of delay widens the gap between availability and demand, while the climate crisis intensifies pressure on conventional sources. Companies with ambitious ESG goals will find in this alliance a strategic opportunity for leadership, competitive differentiation, and tangible contribution to global water resilience.
Implementation of the Liangzi Lake Emergency Water Plant Project is organized into clearly defined phases integrating technical design, environmental mitigation, and advanced operational control. In its first stage, design focused on selecting treatment technologies capable of ensuring potability and supply resilience. After analyzing alternatives such as MBR, ultrafiltration, and artificial wetlands, a hybrid gray‑digital scheme was chosen , pre‑oxidation, flotation sedimentation, dual‑layer filtration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration, offering maximum efficiency in removing solids and emerging contaminants, with stable operation under hydrological variability. The nominal capacity of 500,000 m³/day serves more than six million users, and modularity facilitates future expansions or integration with reuse systems.
In the construction phase, advanced pipe‑jacking methods with mud‑water balance machines and intelligent deviation correction systems were used to adapt to irregular lakebed strata. This minimizes risk of structural failures and avoids release of contaminated sediments. The site was fully sealed to prevent mud leakage; construction wastewater undergoes triple‑stage sedimentation and is reused internally, while stabilized sludge is repurposed as fill material, achieving zero discharge. During this stage, BIM and AI systems act as the core of digital traceability, controlling progress, safety, and environmental performance in real time.
Key risks include potential failures in critical equipment, variations in raw water quality, and hydrological fluctuations driven by climate change. To mitigate them, redundant pumping and membrane systems, extreme‑event contingency plans, and emergency protocols coordinated with local authorities are implemented. Continuous monitoring tracks temperature, turbidity, pH, and nitrate levels, activating preventive alerts. At the climate level, the project integrates seasonal variability projections and strategic reserves in its distribution network to maintain operational autonomy.
The chosen solution addresses a critical technical and environmental issue: dependence on river sources vulnerable to pollution and scarcity. It ensures quality and continuity through high‑efficiency treatment and shared public‑private governance. Selection criteria included energy efficiency, operating cost, environmental impact, and compliance with national and international standards. Integrated into the Water Positive and VWBA 2.0 framework, every cubic meter treated and distributed is accounted as an additional volumetric water benefit, demonstrating additionality, traceability, and intentionality.
Expected benefits are broad and quantifiable: more than 182 million m³ of water treated annually to potable standards, significant reduction in energy use through digital optimization, decreased emissions from water transport, and improved lake environmental quality. Socially, public health and supply security are strengthened, generating technical employment and regional economic stability. Economically, operating costs are substantially reduced, and ESG certifications position Wuhan as a national reference in sustainable water management.
The model has high replicability in regions with urban basins under pressure or sensitive lacustrine ecosystems. It can be adapted to coastal or inland cities facing water stress through a combination of gray technology, digital monitoring, and collaborative management. Its competitiveness lies in high hydraulic efficiency (lower consumption per m³ treated) and ability to generate verifiable volumetric water benefits. Model expansion is facilitated by public‑private alliances, regenerative‑water regulatory frameworks, and leadership from climate‑focused companies.
Implementation follows a phased, adaptive approach structured into five sequential stages covering diagnosis, design, installation, commissioning, validation, and continuous operation. The first phase, launched in 2022, focused on integrated diagnosis and design, with hydrological, topographic, and water‑quality studies establishing the project’s baseline. Multiple technological alternatives were evaluated, leading to adoption of a hybrid treatment process, pre‑oxidation, flotation, filtration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration, selected for stability, energy efficiency, and ability to produce drinking water under high turbidity or emerging contaminants.
The second phase, installation and infrastructure, involved execution of intake systems, pumping stations, and 49.54 km of pipelines. Mud‑water balance pipe‑jacking and intelligent correction systems ensured precision and minimized ecological impact. BIM modeling and a smart construction platform enabled real‑time structural quality control, progress tracking, and worker safety management. By 2025, the project had achieved 82% physical progress and installation of all critical components, with test flow expected to begin in August of that year.
The third phase covers commissioning and technical validation. Calibration protocols and tests for flow, pressure, and energy efficiency were conducted alongside laboratory and online water‑quality validation (pH, turbidity, conductivity, nitrates). Measurements are automatically recorded in an IoT network linked to the central SCADA system, generating dynamic reports with comparative analysis versus reference values. Key performance indicators (KPIs) include hydraulic efficiency, energy use per m³ treated, recovery rate, and contaminant reduction.
Continuous operation constitutes the fourth phase. Here, operational governance is consolidated: the Wuhan Water Affairs Bureau oversees regulation, the technical operator manages daily operations, and an external verifier audits environmental and social effectiveness. Preventive maintenance is scheduled through performance analytics, membrane replacement planning, and pump‑efficiency control. SCADA automatic alarms trigger contingency protocols for deviations in quality, flow, or mechanical failures, ensuring operational resilience.
The fifth phase integrates continuous improvement. KPIs, hydraulic efficiency, energy consumption, water recovery, and emissions reduction, are periodically compared between the baseline (without project) and operational (with project) scenarios. Results feed evaluation reports and system feedback, enabling technological and management adjustments. Physical and digital traceability is ensured via asset georeferencing, secure data storage, and external audits verifying the additionality, traceability, and intentionality of generated water benefits. This sequential implementation approach makes the project a model of intelligent, resilient, and replicable management for China’s urban water security.
The Liangzi Lake Emergency Water Plant Project is a comprehensive water‑management intervention focused on urban resilience, operational efficiency, and environmental sustainability. Technically, it establishes a dual‑source supply system, river and lake, to ensure continuity and quality of water in Wuhan. The main intervention is constructing a 500,000 m³/day treatment plant with pre‑oxidation, flotation‑sedimentation, advanced filtration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration, plus 50 km of pipelines and three pumping stations. The system operates with full redundancy and digital traceability through SCADA and IoT, meeting World Health Organization (WHO) standards, China’s GB5749‑2022 drinking‑water quality standards, and equivalent EU Directive 2020/2184 criteria.
The relevance of this solution lies in its ability to reverse Wuhan’s historical dependence on the Yangtze and Han Rivers, mitigating contamination and drought risks. Before the project, supply relied almost exclusively on vulnerable river sources; now, a high‑quality alternative, Liangzi Lake, ensures resource sustainability through shared infrastructure and governance. Environmentally and socially, the difference between the baseline and operational scenarios is substantial: transitioning from a centralized infrastructure vulnerable to extreme climate events to a distributed, resilient, and energy‑optimized model.
Expected results include treating over 182 million m³ of water annually, reducing more than 95% of total suspended solids, 90% of BOD, and 80% of nitrates, plus an estimated 12% energy savings versus conventional plants. Additional benefits include lower greenhouse‑gas emissions from water transport, improved lake ecological quality, local technical employment, and a healthier urban environment.
Strategically and commercially, the project is a cornerstone of Hubei Province’s Water Positive roadmap and China’s national circular‑water economy strategy. Under VWBA 2.0, each cubic meter treated and distributed represents a traceable net water benefit, fulfilling principles of additionality, intentionality, and independent verification. This strengthens ESG commitments of the government and private partners, reinforcing their social license to operate, corporate reputation, and alignment with global frameworks such as Science Based Targets for Water (SBTi), Net Positive Water Impact (NPWI), and EU ESRS E3 standards.
The Liangzi model is fully replicable in other urban regions with high water stress, particularly in Yangtze Delta cities, northern China, or sensitive coastal environments. Its scalability relies on process standardization, digital twin modeling, and public‑private partnerships ensuring financial and technological sustainability. Agreements with local universities, water research institutions, and environmental‑engineering companies facilitate knowledge transfer and model adoption across diverse contexts.
The final expected impact is profound: the dual supply system improves basin water balance, reduces pressure on critical river sources, and strengthens Wuhan’s climate resilience against droughts and floods. Socially, it ensures safe drinking water for millions, promotes public health and community stability, and builds local technical capacity. Commercially, it sends a clear message to investors and society: the transition toward a regenerative water economy is possible, measurable, and profitable, and the Liangzi Lake Project is tangible proof of that transformation.
