The Babao Drainage Pump Station in Hangzhou begins operating on Dec 20. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

The Babao Drainage Pump Station in Hangzhou city – capital of East China's Zhejiang province – began operating on Dec 20.

One of China's 172 major water conservation projects, the station can pump 200 cubic meters of water per second – enough to drain the equivalent of 1.8 West Lakes, Hangzhou's iconic freshwater body, each day.

Located near Jiubao Bridge on the northern bank of the Qiantang River, the 1.3-billion-yuan ($177 million) facility works alongside the Sanbao Pump Station to drain the equivalent of up to 3.3 West Lakes per day – significantly improving flood management across Hangzhou and the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain.

Hangzhou's water system flows northward into the Taihu Lake and Huangpu River basins. When Taihu's water level rises, natural drainage slows, causing urban flooding.

To address this, Hangzhou developed three "fast water highways" to redirect water southward into the Qiantang River, with Babao station acting as the eastern gateway.

One of the five powerful water pumps at the Babao Drainage Pump Station in Hangzhou. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

Operating as an "escalator", the Babao station elevates water from the second channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal into the Qiantang River – overcoming height differences and preventing backflow with integrated gates.

During heavy rain, the Sanbao and Babao stations together discharged 42 percent of Hangzhou's rainfall this summer, mitigating flood risks.

Babao features a cutting-edge digital twin platform that handles 7,500 square kilometers of the eastern Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain's waterways.

Real-time monitoring of water levels and rainfall allows the system to issue automated alerts and calculate optimal drainage strategies – ensuring efficient, sustainable flood control. 

The national-scale infrastructure is said to underscore Hangzhou's commitment to modernizing water management and enhancing its urban resilience.

The smart management platform at the station enables real-time monitoring of water conditions. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]