Water Reuse in Flexible Tanks in Northwest China: A New Approach to Water Conservation and a New Driving Force for Sustainable Development

As one of the most water-scarce regions in China, the Northwest has long faced the contradiction between water scarcity and growing water demand. With the acceleration of urbanization and the increasing demand for ecological environment protection, the traditional water resource management model can no longer meet the regional development needs. As an innovative water resource recycling solution, flexible tank water reuse technology is gradually becoming a key technical path for the Northwest to solve the water resource dilemma, relying on its advantages of efficient treatment, flexible deployment, and controllable costs.

Core Advantages of Flexible Tank Water Reuse Technology

1. Efficient Treatment and Water Quality Assurance

Flexible tanks adopt an integrated design, combining membrane separation technology, biological treatment technology, and multi-stage filtration systems, which can efficiently remove pollutants such as suspended solids, organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus from sewage. Taking a urban road greening project as an example, the reclaimed water quality treated by the flexible tank meets the Urban Wastewater Reuse - Water Quality for Urban Miscellaneous Water standard and can be directly used for scenarios such as greening irrigation and road spraying. The pore size accuracy of its membrane components can reach 0.01 microns, and the interception rate of pollutants such as microorganisms and colloids exceeds 99%, ensuring the safety of water reuse.

2. Flexible Deployment and Strong Adaptability

The Northwest has complex terrain and an arid climate, making the construction of traditional water treatment facilities costly and less adaptable. The modular design of flexible tanks allows for rapid assembly according to actual needs, with a single tank treatment scale ranging from 10 m³/day to 1,000 m³/day. In a renovation project for an old community, the flexible tank was transported to the site in a folded manner and completed installation and debugging in only 3 days, effectively solving the problem of community sewage collection and water reuse. Its weather-resistant materials can adapt to extreme temperature differences from -40°C to 70°C, making it suitable for special environments such as deserts and gobi.

3. Controllable Costs and Significant Economic Benefits

Compared with traditional water treatment facilities, the construction cost of flexible tanks is reduced by more than 30%, and the operation cost is reduced by about 25%. Taking an industrial park in the Yellow River Basin as an example, after adopting the flexible tank water reuse system, it can reduce fresh water intake by 1.2 million tons annually, saving about 3.6 million yuan in water fees, while reducing sewage treatment fees by 1.8 million yuan. Through the combination of rainwater collection and water reuse, the park has achieved a water self-sufficiency rate of more than 40%, with an investment payback period shortened to 3-5 years.

Typical Application Scenarios of Flexible Tank Water Reuse in Northwest China

1. Urban Water Conservation and Ecological Restoration

In arid cities in the Northwest, flexible tanks convert rainwater, bathing wastewater, etc., into reclaimed water for urban greening, road cleaning, etc. Taking a new district in Lanzhou as an example, the flexible tank system covers an area of 20 square kilometers, with an annual reclaimed water treatment capacity of 5 million tons, equivalent to the water storage capacity of a medium-sized reservoir. Water reuse has reduced the cost of urban greening irrigation by 60% and reduced water pollution to the Yellow River caused by direct sewage discharge, promoting the 良性循环 of the urban ecosystem.

2. Industrial Water Conservation and Circular Economy

The Northwest has a developed energy and chemical industry, with huge industrial water demand. Flexible tanks have shown significant advantages in industrial wastewater treatment. Taking a coal chemical enterprise as an example, through in-depth treatment of circulating cooling water blowdown by flexible tanks, the reclaimed water quality meets the industrial water standard, the reuse rate is increased to more than 85%, 2 million tons of fresh water are saved annually, 1.5 million tons of wastewater discharge are reduced, and the direct economic benefit exceeds 5 million yuan.

3. Agricultural Water Conservation and Sustainable Development

In agricultural areas of the Northwest, flexible tanks provide a stable water source for farmland irrigation by treating agricultural wastewater, rainwater, etc. Taking an irrigation district in Ningxia as an example, the combination of the flexible tank system and drip irrigation technology has increased the irrigation water use coefficient from 0.45 to 0.75, saving 30 million cubic meters of agricultural water annually. At the same time, it reduces the loss of fertilizers and pesticides with runoff, improving soil quality.

Challenges and Countermeasures for Flexible Tank Water Reuse Technology

1. Technical Bottlenecks and Breakthrough Directions

Currently, flexible tanks still have shortcomings in membrane pollution control and low-temperature operation stability. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the research and development of anti-pollution membrane materials, develop biological treatment processes suitable for low-temperature environments, and improve the intelligence level of the system. For example, remote monitoring and automatic backwashing through IoT technology can reduce operation and maintenance costs by more than 20%.

2. Policy Support and Market Promotion

It is recommended that the government introduce special subsidy policies to provide 30%-50% construction fund support for flexible tank water reuse projects. At the same time, include water reuse in the scope of water resource tax reduction and exemption to improve the enthusiasm of enterprises to adopt new technologies. Carry out pilot demonstrations in cities such as Xi'an and Yinchuan to form a replicable promotion model.

3. Public Awareness and Participation Mechanisms

Improve public awareness of water reuse by building water conservation education bases and carrying out community publicity activities. For example, in a community in Lanzhou, the flexible tank system is combined with a resident interaction platform to display water saving data and economic benefits in real time, increasing residents' awareness of water conservation by more than 40%.

 

Flexible tank water reuse technology provides an innovative solution for the efficient utilization of water resources in the Northwest. Through technological upgrading, policy guidance, and public participation, this technology is expected to achieve large-scale application in the Northwest, promoting the transformation of regional water resource management towards intensification and intelligence. In the future, with the advancement of the "Double Carbon" goal, flexible tank technology will be deeply integrated with new energy, smart cities, and other fields, injecting new momentum into the ecological civilization construction and high-quality development of the Northwest.