Heavy Metal Pollution in Xiangjiang River Basin and Its Emergency Response

Xiangjiang River is a major tributary of the Yangtze River, with a population of 40 million covering the whole river basin. As the important non-ferrous metal mining and smelting industrial area of China, As a result of extensive development of non-ferrous metal mining, smelting and processing industry, the basin suffered severe heavy metal pollution, especially mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, etc both in water body and sediment. In response to this severe situation, the central and local governments have developed the corresponding heavy metal pollution emergency mechanisms, and control of heavy metal pollution in Xiangjiang River has been included in the agenda of national governance plan. In recent years, our group has also conducted researches in heavy metal removal technologies, including adsorption and enhanced coagulation processes for conventional water treatment plants to response emergent contamination.