Late on September 13th, a television program exposed issues with rural sewage treatment in certain regions, revealing that projects intended to benefit villagers have instead caused significant problems. In several villages across Jiangsu and Shanxi provinces, sewage treatment infrastructure has been found idle, with equipment running empty, sewage backing up into homes, and facilities costing millions sitting unused. Following the broadcast, authorities in Jiangsu Province and Xuzhou City have responded with high priority.

A reporter from the Xuzhou Tongshan District People's Government has confirmed that the district immediately formed a joint investigation team comprising environmental protection, water affairs, and agriculture and rural affairs departments. By the evening of the 13th, personnel had already arrived at the locations in question to commence investigations and corrective actions. Moving forward, this joint team will handle the matter in accordance with laws and regulations based on their findings, while remaining open to public oversight.

During the investigation in Yezhuang Village, located in Tongshan District's jurisdiction, it was observed that the village has only about thirty households, leading to minimal daily water consumption and sewage output. On-site inspections of multiple sewage wells revealed extremely low water levels with stagnant conditions, some even containing floating household waste. The discharge outlet near the treatment station showed only a weak trickle of flow. Operators at the local facility confirmed that due to the sparse population and low sewage generation, the pipeline network struggles to collect sufficient wastewater.

It was further disclosed by maintenance staff that the Yezhuang Village facility, lacking adequate incoming wastewater for years, has been operating in a continuous recirculation mode using water retained within its tanks. This self-sustaining loop was designed to protect the equipment and maintain operational status, yet it represents a state of idle running. Calculations by the workers indicate that normal operation consumes roughly 5 kilowatt-hours daily, whereas the idle state doubles this consumption to 10 kilowatt-hours. This wasteful practice amounts to over 3,600 kilowatt-hours lost annually. Similar conditions were found in Luzhuang, Wafang, and Shangzhoulou villages within Tongshan District, where equipment remained powered on despite minimal collection and discharge volumes, effectively processing no sewage at all.

In Shiduan Village, residents reported a more severe issue: the sewage treatment infrastructure not only fails to treat wastewater but frequently causes overflow and backflow into their homes. Even on dry days, sewage persistently seeps from certain manholes, prompting villagers to seal them with cement to mitigate odors and pooling, though leaks remain unresolved. Opening one such well revealed black, malodorous sewage at a depth of about 2 meters, significantly higher than the household pipe outlets. This elevated water level creates backpressure that prevents domestic sewage from entering the public network, forcing it to reverse and flood back into residences. With no drainage pathway, villagers have resorted to rerouting their wastewater directly into open ditches, effectively defeating the purpose of centralized treatment. Additionally, the village shows widespread signs of poor construction quality, including uneven road settlement, cracking, and other infrastructure damage attributed to substandard pipeline installation that also ruined existing roads.

In Dongshan Village, residents expressed that their local facility cannot collect or treat sewage properly, leading them to discharge household wastewater directly into nearby rivers and ponds. On-site observation revealed a pond covered with duckweed and garbage, its water appearing black with a strong odor upon disturbance. Most households in the village lack proper sewer connections entirely. Public records show that in 2020, Tongshan District invested 65 million yuan to improve networks across nine administrative villages and extend sewage treatment coverage to fifteen others. Dongshan Village was included in this initiative during 2020-2021, with a village-level treatment station built at an estimated fiscal cost of 1.91 million yuan. The facility was intended to process wastewater from toilets, bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry, complete with external pipeline connections. However, contrary to guidelines requiring resident input on network routing and facility placement through multi-departmental surveys, villagers claim they were never consulted during construction. Only the station was built, with essential collection networks remaining unimplemented.

Without collection pipelines, sewage cannot reach the station. To create the illusion of normal operation for inspections, project personnel reportedly used tanker trucks to haul water from the Grand Canal, pumping it into village pipes and wells to ensure the facility appeared active each day. Even more puzzling to residents is the inclusion of a sewage treatment fee in their water bills. According to the district's rural water pricing standards, residents are charged 0.35 yuan per ton for sewage treatment, a line item that began appearing on bills in March 2025. A local water supply service station employee admitted, "We at the water company don't fully understand it either, as the fee is collected by higher authorities."