"Green" gives birth to "gold" and helps revitalize Deqing, Zhejiang. "Two Mountains Theory" is vividly practiced, witnessed, and experienced
"In the past, the vegetable garden at our doorstep needed watering, so we had to carry buckets to the river to fetch water. Now, when we turn on the faucet, there is fertilizer water coming out for free!" When it comes to the changes brought about by the "zero direct discharge" of domestic sewage, Yu Jianfen, a villager from Lianhe Village in Kangqian Street, Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, couldn't help but smile.
Looking at the vegetable garden of Yu Jianfen's family, the village is lush and verdant with trees, and the river harbor is clear and clear. The excellent environment makes people feel relaxed and happy.
Green to Deqing is an inexhaustible driving force for industrial transformation and sustainable development, and an important condition for attracting investment and promoting rural revitalization. For many years, the local government has been steadfast in protecting the "golden rice bowl" of green waters and mountains, and striving to tap into the value of ecological products.
From "dirty" to "clean" and then to "beautiful"
At that time, when the light returned to more than a decade ago, Union Village was still a different scene: weeds were overgrown on the riverbank, the river emitted a foul smell, and the air was filled with dust
This is the pain brought by the traditional development model to the local area: ore mining, pig farming, and other activities were once the main sources of economic income for villagers. Dust pollution, sewage flow, and untreated pig excrement are directly discharged into the river... The living environment of Lianhe Village has been greatly affected.
Villager Fei Alai used to do greenhouse turtle farming. In order to maintain temperature, the turtle shed needs to be lit and heated for a long time, and the burning of firewood leads to smoke; The feed and medicine required for aquaculture also pollute the river port.
Faced with persistent malaria, one still needs to scrape bones and break wrists. Starting from the end of 2013, Lianhe Village responded to the call for the improvement of small and medium-sized rivers in Deqing by renovating mining areas, closing pig farms, demolishing turtle greenhouses, and carrying out dredging and dredging of the river's silt. "At first, I didn't understand," Fei Alai recalled, "but the village not only implemented compensation, but also communicated with us multiple times, and we gradually realized the significance of doing so."
After making efforts to rectify, the village has returned with green waters and mountains - the greenery has been improved, the river ecological landscape has been added, the water has become clear, the roads have become smooth, and the living environment of the villagers is getting better and better.
"Just being 'clean' is not enough. We need to make the United Village more 'beautiful'," said Wang Minmin, Secretary of the Party Branch of the United Village. "Only by further leveraging the advantages of ecological resources can the village have longer lasting vitality."
In 2020, in order to further improve the treatment effect of small and micro water bodies such as "abandoned fish ponds" and "cut off rivers", Lianhe Village constructed one after another "underwater forests" by planting bitter grass and black algae, and releasing aquatic animals. The scene of "fish in the water can reach over a hundred heads, all as if swimming in the air without a place to rely on" is vividly reproduced.
Zero direct discharge of domestic sewage
The treatment of agricultural domestic sewage is the focus and difficulty of water management work. Since 2015, Deqing has pioneered the "one pipe to the bottom" sewage treatment model in Zhejiang Province.
"Connecting one pipe to the bottom" means that the four types of sewage, including bathroom sewage, kitchen sewage, washing sewage, and bathing sewage, are integrated into the same pipe and then uniformly filtered and discharged. In Lianhe Village, this model has been further upgraded to achieve "zero direct discharge" of domestic sewage.
The project was completed thanks to Professor Li Jun from the School of Environment at Zhejiang University of Technology. In 2020, with the relocation of the school site, Li Junchu arrived in Deqing. Upon hearing the news, streets and villages came to their homes to discuss rural water management issues.
At that time, although Lianhe Village had already achieved the goal of "connecting one pipe to the bottom", the domestic sewage was only discharged into the river after preliminary treatment, and many villagers complained about the odor of the sewage and the poor water quality of the pond.
After conducting research and on-site visits, Li Jun proposed a new concept - "zero direct discharge" of domestic sewage. This model uses "buried integrated equipment+artificial wetland+underwater forest" as the treatment process to classify and recycle domestic sewage. The daily domestic sewage generated by villagers goes through the photovoltaic power generation sewage treatment terminal, enters the artificial wetland for impurity adsorption, and then flows into the artificial waterfall and underwater forest landscape pond. It is purified by the ecosystem's own power, and finally returned to the vegetable field as irrigation water.
The reporter saw on site that the system consists of an ecological corridor, artificial wetlands, waterfront parks, and artificial streams, each part complementing each other. "Rather than saying it's a sewage treatment system, it's more like an ecological park at our own doorstep," said Yu Jianfen.
Talents from all walks of life come to admire their names
In January of this year, Wang Zhentao, born in 1995, gave up his interior design work in the county and returned to Union Village to open a "Deep Tibet" coffee shop with his wife. After operating for more than half a year, the coffee shop has become a "internet celebrity", attracting young tourists from Hangzhou, Shanghai, and even Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
On July 20th, the animation director and cameraman from Huzhou Mange Animation Co., Ltd. walked into the United Village to gather inspiration. Coincidentally on a rainy day, they recorded the misty and rainy scene of the village and returned to the studio for hand drawing and reproduction, which will be used in future animations.
Borrowing green waters and mountains, attracting talents from all walks of life, expanding major industries, and helping rural revitalization. The Butterfly Transformation of Lianhe Village is a microcosm of Deqing's vivid practice of the "Two Mountains Theory"——
Starting from 2019, Xiazhuhu Street has implemented an "ecological green coin" mechanism, where villagers can obtain "green coins" through methods such as water protection, river patrols, and garbage sorting. These "green coins" can not only be exchanged for daily necessities, but can also apply for low interest loans ranging from 50000 to 500000 yuan from banks based on the quantity;
Shangyang Village has introduced the "Sky Forest Valley" outdoor sports tourism project, where the village collective and villagers invest in land, funds, and other resources. Each household can receive an annual dividend of 2000 yuan;
Using ecological resources as a medium, Deqing vigorously developed the "Chuanggu Economy" at the foot of Mogan Mountain. At present, 6 headquarters economic projects have been signed and settled, and 11 projects including the Moganshan AI base of Zhijiang Laboratory have accelerated construction with a total investment of over 7 billion yuan
The continuous deepening of the exploration of green development in Deqing is bridging the gap between "green mountains and clear waters" and "golden mountains and silver mountains", and generating tangible co construction and sharing effects. A profound transformation from the environment to production, and then to life and ecology has been unfolding in Deqing, showing initial results.
The relevant person in charge of the Ecological Civilization Office of the Deqing County Committee stated that Deqing is seizing the significant opportunity of the 20th anniversary of the "Ten Million Project", expanding the transformation channels of "green", "gold", and green revitalization. At the same time, it continues to summarize experience and promote the "Deqing sample" of practicing the "Two Mountains Theory" to more places.
