The stench was so pungent, people could smell it dozens of kilometres away. Rubbish floats on top of sewage. It's an unimaginable working environment for almost everyone, but one man has been working in it for 30 years, and he says the sacrifice is worth it.

At the primary pumping station of the Beijing Gaobeidian Sewage Treatment Plant, Feng Deyu, 50, suffers the hardest working situation being surrounded by sewage all day. But as the city moves towards hosting the Olympic Games in August 2008, he sees his job as a contribution to making it clean and green.

"Maybe I've worked so long here that I can't smell the sewage anymore," Feng said, smiling. "I'm proud of my job because my suffering through the foul water could help bring about a clean environment."

Dealing with the first process of the treatment, Feng's task is not only supervising the normal operation of the pumping machine, but also disposing of things that could block the whole process.

"Since there is all kinds of rubbish in the sewage, the machine is always blocked," said Feng, who is now the leader of his work group. "When that happens, I have to get rid of the rubbish by hand to make sure the machine runs smoothly, and the whole treatment process won't be stopped."

With Feng's efforts, the pumping station has operated safely for 30 years, and the high reputation Feng and his station have built explains to some degree Feng's attitude towards his job.

"After the two-day rest at the weekend, I often go to work very early on Monday morning since I love my job very much," he said.

And now, with the 2008 Games coming, Feng is working on his own Olympic dream one that started to be realized even before his city was awarded the honour of hosting it.

"While Beijing was bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games, some officials from the International Olympic Committee came to inspect our plant, and I'd like to think our job left a deep impression on them," Feng recalled proudly.

"At present, all Beijingers are making our own contributions to hosting a successful Olympic Games, and I hope to add my efforts to show a really 'green Olympics' to the whole world."

Clean water for Olympics

From the very beginning, Beijing organizers for the 2008 Olympics have paid much attention to environmental protection, as presenting a "green Olympics" is one of the three key goals of the Games, together with a "high-tech Olympics" and a "people's Olympics."

As the plant that treats about 40 per cent of the city's total sewage, the smooth operation of the Gaobeidian Sewage Treatment Plant is a vital part of the environmental protection project in Beijing.

However, it's just one of 14 waste-water treatment plants that are proposed in the Beijing Municipality's master plan.

By the end of last year, nine plants had been constructed, and the rate of sewage being treated has risen to 70 per cent from only 2 per cent in 1990, when treatment projects began.

"By 2008, we hope Beijing's rate of sewage treatment can reach 90 per cent and the rate of water reuse can reach 50 per cent," said Tu Zhaolin, board chairwoman of the Beijing Drainage Group Co Ltd (BDG), which built and manages Gaobeidian sewage treatment plant.

The sewage treatment system helped the capital city a lot during its bidding for the 2008 Olympics.

"By the end of 2000, 10 years after Beijing started waste-water treatment, three treatment plants had been built, and the treatment capacity had reached 108 cubic metres per day a treatment rate of 40 per cent," Tu said.

"It helped a lot in Beijing winning the Olympic hosting right, and we will continue our efforts to ensure a clean Games in 2008."

To realize the water environmental protection goal by the 2008 Games, the Beijing municipal government is maintaining the pace of its efforts.

"With billions in investment, six more treatment plants have been built in the past five years, which have laid a solid foundation for achieving the goal in 2008," Tu said.

To reach the goal in time for the Games, the last five sewage treatment plants are being built, along with a nearly 400-kilometre sewerage network.

The advanced treatment process to recycle water is also promised to be ready for the Olympics.

"Since the scarcity of water resources in Beijing has become a bottleneck that restricts the economic development of the capital, large volumes of reclaimed water will be used for the Olympic projects, taking the place of precious clean water," Tu said.

The water reclamation project at the Qinghe Sewage Treatment Plant will provide 80,000 cubic metres of recycled water per day for the lakes in the Olympic park, and the project involving the Beijing Xiaohe Plants will produce 10,000 cubic metres of high quality water per day for the waterscapes at the centre of Olympic Park.

"With effective management," Tu said, "we will be sure to provide reliable service for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and clean water for all Beijing citizens."

(China Daily 05/19/2006 page5)