Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment and Water Environment Restoration, Ministry of Education

The Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment and Water Environment Restoration was founded on the basis of Yixing Environmentally Friendly Science and Technology Research Center of Nanjing University (currently the Yixing Environmentally Friendly Institute of Nanjing University), which is the first off-campus industry-university-research basis of Nanjing University. The center aims to promote the water treatment industry be more technology-advanced, more equipment-standardized, and more market-sounder. Through system mechanism innovation and technically creative talents gathering, the center strives to establish a system to effectively industrialize the scientific research and focuses on develop imperative common and key technologies, so as to become a domestically leading and internationally first-class engineering research base for water treatment and water environment restoration.

The center is the essential carrier of “One Center One Base” Project of Jiangsu Province. It has founded or led the foundation of a series of advanced platforms including National Engineering Research Center for Organic Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, National Innovation Association of Energy-saving Water Treatment Equipment and Technology, Jiangsu Industry Technology Institute for Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Jiangsu Environmentally Friendly Equipment and Industry Technology Innovation Center, etc.

The center is currently staffed with 124 professional research fellows, including one academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, two Cheung Kong Scholar professors, one member of the “Thousand Youth Talents Program”, one member of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Youth Scholar Program”, two Jiangsu Outstanding Young Scientists, two leading experts in the national “863” theme program and national major supporting program. And the current Director of the Center is Professor Ren Hongqiang.

Main tasks of the center are the research and conversion of the common and key technologies in water treatment and water environment restoration, which include the following five aspects:

new technology of water and sewage treatment and resource;

non-point source pollution control and ecological engineering technology;

water resources preservation and restoration technology;

evaluation technology of toxicants and ecological safety; and

policy and standard for water pollution prevention technology.

The center has made the following achievements in the recent five years:

taking change of plenty national “863” and “973” major supporting projects and provincial major science and technology projects;

RMB 27 million Yuan research fund every year;

RMB 40 million Yuan contract research fund;

70 inventions and patents authorized every year;

5 winners of National Technology Invention Awards (second class) and National Science & Technology Progress Awards (second class);

one winner of the Science and Technology Awards of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation; and

15 winners of Provincial Technology Awards (first class and second class).

Currently the center is domestically leading in bio-treatment and cycling of industry sewage, and internationally leading in such aspects of new function materials, new equipment, and risk prediction technology.

The center boasts a stable research place of 6,000 square meters and large-size research equipment and instruments with a total value of about RMB 120 million Yuan. Almost 1,000 testing items in environment, agriculture and food are approved to be carried out by the center by the Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technology Supervision. The center is acclaimed as “Water Hospital” for having provided environmental protection technology service and systematic solutions for more than 200 enterprises at home and abroad.