The Liede River in Tianhe district has restored its beautiful scenery after many years of environmental water treatment.

The Liede River basin has a population of 760,000 and an area of 16 square kilometers. It is 5.1 km long and is the only river in Tianhe that flows through the Central Business District. Due to the poor sewage pipe network, the river was dirty and smelly.

The Tianhe water affairs bureau has implemented the "12345" method, which refers to one mechanism, two networks, three sources, four clean-up behaviors and five regulation measures to improve the river's water quality.

The Liede River in Tianhe district restores its beauty. [Photo by Chen Youzi/WeChat account: tianhefabu]

One mechanism means the river chief system. The district currently has more than 70 river chiefs, over 40 river patrol and protection teams, and over 800 volunteers.

Two networks are grid management and drainage units. More than 200 grids have been set up in the Liede River basin along with more than 700 drainage units that are divided according to land usage.

The Liede River was harnessed in accordance with three guidelines. Taking a grid as a unit, the district reconstructed the rainwater and sewage diversion facilities, and 76 percent of the basin area reached the required standard. More than 70 km of sewage pipes and rainwater pipes were renovated and expanded to fully collect sewage. The water from Daguan Water Purification Plant is used as the water source to improve the ecological self-purification capacity of the river.

After cleaning up buildings, pipes, wells and rivers, Tianhe's water affairs bureau found out that the causes of pollution were due to pipelines' hidden dangers, and illegal construction and garbage that had piled up on both sides of the river.

Through five regulation measures, the district rectified 16 disorderly and polluted places in the Liede River basin and demolished 13 illegal constructions as well as cracked down on more than 30 illegal drainage and dumping areas.

The Liede River is no longer dirty and smelly and started to improve since 2017. In 2020, the water ecosystem in the river was restored and its water reached Class IV water quality. In 2021, the 4.3-km greenway along the river was finished.