Karamay’s second sewage treatment plant project was inked between the Karamay municipal government and Tianjin Entrepreneurship Environmental Protection Group Co on Nov 4.

The project aims to improve the water quality in both urban and rural areas and improve the city’s infrastructure. The project entered the national PPP (public-private partnership) Demonstrative Projects list this October, becoming the city’s first such project.

PPP is a government service (or private business venture) funded and operated through a partnership comprising of a government body and one or more private sector companies.

The first stage of the project is expected to be put into operation on Jan 1, 2017, while the second stage is to finish construction in 2019. Once complete, the plant can deal with 150,000 cubic meters of sewage a day.

Liu Yujun, president of Tianjin Entrepreneurship Environmental Protection Group Co, said, “It’s a great chance for our company to cooperate with the Karamay government. We will try to contribute to the sewage treatment, reclaimed water utilization, and new energy utilization for the city of Karamay, and even for the whole region.”

PPP projects take advantage of the availability of social capital and make investments in public sectors, including transportation, water conservation, communication, environmental protection, affordable housing, medical treatment, and senior healthcare.

Edited by Tyler Terrance Oneil