Improvement of the Yangtze River's Water Quality with Substantial Implementation of Wastewater Services Infrastructure Since 2013

Meeting the ever-growing demands of humans while ensuring sustainability is one of the great challenges of this century. China has made significant economic progress in recent decades and is increasingly engaged in international activities. This economic prosperity, however, has resulted in substantial contaminant discharge and damage to domestic aquatic ecosystems. Considerable efforts have been made to address these issues through developments in wastewater services infrastructure. Here, we provide an overview of wastewater infrastructure development in the Yangtze River Economic Zone during 2007–2017 and analyze diverse long-term monitoring data. These analyses trace and capture the key drivers affecting the restoration of water quality and determine how such restoration may be sustained or even accelerated in future. We find that there has been a decoupling trend between the economy and environmental variables since 2013, which coincides with the substantial implementation of improved wastewater treatment systems. While further developments in sewerage facilities and phosphorus discharge reduction may continue restoration, a paradigm shift toward a circular economy remains necessary to integrate these developments with wastewater resources management. Overall, this study advances the current understanding of the impact of wastewater services facilities on the balance between economic development and environmental protection.