Financial and economic feasibility of decentralized wastewater reuse systems in Beijing

Many decentralized wastewater reuse systems have been constructed in Beijing. However their performance is not as good as expected. The total amount of reclaimed water used in Beijing is much less than the designed capacity. In order to understand the reasons causing such poor performance, an integrated financial and economic feasibility analysis for the decentralized wastewater reuse systems in Beijing is carried out in this paper. The monetary values of all the major economic, environmental and social effects are quantified. The financial analysis is made from the viewpoint of the project manager, while the economic analysis is done from the angle of government. The results show that the decentralized wastewater reuse systems in Beijing are economically but not financially feasible. It is found that the low rate actually charged for reclaimed water is an important reason for the system not being financially feasible. The decentralized wastewater reuse systems in Beijing may not continue to operate if the financial problems are not solved.