With the rapid economic growth and a large number of industrial production activities in China in recent years, the public has paid more and more attention to the improvement of environmental quality. Issues such as control of pollution in water and air resources, solid waste and noise, as well as energy use and alternative energy development, have received increasing attention. How to effectively manage and utilize precious water resources is a major issue for China to achieve sustainable development. The present study tried to the concepts of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with slacks-based model (SBM) model under Constant Returns-to-Scale (CRS) technology (CRS-SBM-DEA) to find a solution, by estimating the total factor water usage efficiencies and sewage treatment efficiencies across Eastern, Central and Western areas in China. The results showed that, before 2007, the Eastern Area in China had the highest water usage efficiency, followed by the West Area and then the Central Area. After 2007, the Western area has gradually become the one with the highest water usage efficiency, followed by the East Area and then the Central Area. In addition, the empirical estimates also consider the impact of the social level. Through panel analysis, this paper finds that population pressure will significantly reduce the efficiency of water use in the region, and the government's actions can effectively boost the use and conservation of water resources.
Keywords: Chinese sewage treatment; Data envelopment analysis; Water efficiency.
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.