Mastering the waterways of Fuzhou

People say 100 rivers run through Fuzhou. Water has been shaping the city since it was founded more than 2000 years ago. For better and worse. Sharing the riches of
the nearby sea with the citizens and pouring rain from the neighbouring mountains on to them.

Today, water remains a decisive denominator for Fuzhou. It is now attracting the eyes of China, when cities from near and far seek inspiration as to how to effectively manage water, being one of the country’s Sponge Cities. Societies, where smart design and solutions allow them to absorb, integrate and treat water in ways that help preserve the resource, and handle the effects of problems like flooding.

“We experience many challenges with water. During rainy periods, we have all too much, while the dry periods leave our waterways stagnating. That is one reason why we depend upon our floodgates to distribute water to where it should go, whether it is too much or too little,” says Pu Jiang, CEO and Co-Founder of Fuyuanxing Mechanical and Electrical Company.

Better living, great reliability
Wang Chuan Qi walks around the floodgate. He routinely inspects the station, making sure everything is running as it should. It is. He has primary responsibility for its operation at this point. This floodgate is built on top of one of the city’s many small rivers, the Chating. And here, its main function is usually making sure the waterway does not stagnate and leave water black and smelly, and a nuisance to the citizens of the area.

“It has to work. Always. Normally to make sure that water flows satisfyingly to the benefit of the people living here, but also in times with a risk of flooding. From my perspective, one of the great things about this solution is that the great performing Grundfos pumps are installed directly in the floodgate, which makes them easily accessible for service and maintenance. This allows us to conveniently make sure things work at all times,” says Wang Chuan Qi, Vice General Manager and head of the engineering team at Fuyuanxing.

He is supplemented by Mr Song Zhi Guo, General Manager for the Fuzhou Water Environment Project at the Beijing Enterprises Water Group, and he is particularly happy about the support his company has gained from Grundfos, and the new options the floodgates present to him:

“Grundfos devoted its core products and competencies to the project in Fuzhou. The technical competence of the team and the user-friendly equipment have won great recognition from our company and Fuchou Municipality as well. With the pump gate system, we are able to create flow in the waterways. Residents can walk and live along the river. They are very pleased that clean water is brought to their doorsteps,” he says.

Perfect stepping stones
While the pump gates of Fuzhou help ensure the right flow in the city’s rivers, they also attract the right attention. The Sponge Cities are great examples to follow, and this makes being part of their solutions highly valuable. The solution in Fuzhou is quite unique. The propeller pumps are built directly into the floodgates, allowing both ease in operation and maintenance, when performing their important task.

“Managing water intelligently is one of the largest challenges society faces. In China and globally. Being part of the solution in Sponge Cities like Fuzhou allows us to put our expertise to work in solving issues of flooding, while also making the city more pleasant to live in, thus making a difference for the people and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. While also developing our own knowledge, so we can continue to make a difference,” says Leo Jie Zhang, China Business Managing Director, WU at Grundfos.