The water resources bureau announced a detailed schedule Monday to flush three heavily polluted rivers with recycled water.
   
The three rivers are the Futian and Xinzhou rivers in Futian District and the Dasha River in Nanshan District.
   
Sewage collected from the three rivers will be treated and then discharged into the three waterways.
   
New sluices and sewage conduit networks will be built for the treatment project. A new sewage pump station and a sewage treatment plant will also be built to clean up the Dasha River.
   
According to the schedule, the three rivers are expected to be cleaned up by May next year and then transformed into scenic areas before 2010.
   
The water resources bureau said there were 249 sources discharging 40,000 tons of filthy pollutants into the Futian River each day while 60,000 tons was going into the Xinzhou River.
   
The situation in the Dasha River is even worse with 80,000 tons of filth being discharged daily from 533 sources.
   
With little fresh water flowing in, the three rivers are almost stagnant with each containing at least 50,000 cubic meters of silt.
   
Another cleanup is scheduled for the Buji, Maozhou, Guanlan, Longgang and Pingshan rivers in Bao'an and Longgang districts.
   
(Shenzhen Daily November 17, 2004)