Technology Frontiers
2026-10-22Introduction: 2026 年 10 月 6 日, 2026 the International Water Association (IWA) World Water Congress & Exhibition was held in Glasgow, UK. The "AOA Technology and Its Engineering Application in Binhe Water Quality Purification Plant," jointly submitted by Shenzhen Environmental Water Group and Beijing University of Technology, won the IWA Project Innovation Award sole Gold Award in the Research & Development Breakthrough category. This technology enabled the Binhe Water Quality Purification Plant to expand its capacity from 30 万 tons/day to 50 万 tons/day under the conditions of no additional land use and no production shutdown, with an average effluent Total Nitrogen of approximately 2 mg/L and a removal rate of approximately 94%, directly saving construction investment of 2.28 亿 yuan and annual operating costs of approximately 2961 万 yuan.
The Sole Gold Award Among 320 Projects from 65 Countries
The International Water Association (IWA) is one of the most authoritative academic and industry organizations in the global water environment field. Its "Project Innovation Award" is held every two years. This edition features 6 categories in total, with only 1 Gold Award per category. Shenzhen Environmental Water Group became the only enterprise to win both Gold and Silver awards this year: in addition to the Gold Award in the Research & Development Breakthrough category for AOA, its "Megacity Leakage Control System," jointly submitted with Shenzhen Smart Water Co., Ltd., won the Silver Award in the Digitalization category. The congress also announced that Shenzhen Environmental Water Group has secured the hosting rights for the 2027 年 IWA Digital Water Summit.
This edition saw 320 projects from 65 countries competing. For the domestic water industry, the significance of this Gold Award lies in the fact that it recognizes technology that has already been applied at scale in engineering, rather than laboratory results—the evaluation focused on tangible operational data and economic benefits.
What AOA Actually Changes: Swapping the Positions of "Aerobic" and "Anoxic"
Traditional Denitrification processes adopt an AAO (Anaerobic—Anoxic—Aerobic) layout. Constrained by the process configuration, they typically require maintaining a large internal reflux of nitrified liquor; when the influent carbon source is insufficient, additional carbon source chemicals must be dosed, driving up both construction and operating costs.
Shenshui Zhidan™ AOA was developed by Shenzhen Environmental Water Group in collaboration with Academician Peng Yongzhen's team at Beijing University of Technology. It adopts an Anaerobic—Aerobic—Anoxic layout, swapping the order of the Aerobic and Anoxic zones: enhancing the carbon storage capacity of microorganisms in the Anaerobic zone, storing the carbon source from raw water, and supplying it to the post-positioned Anoxic zone for Denitrification.
- No internal reflux of nitrified liquor required—eliminating the internal reflux pump and its power consumption;
- No external carbon source required—the carbon source in raw water is efficiently used for Denitrification, significantly reducing chemical consumption;
- Replacing MBBR media and Denitrification filters—shortening the process chain and reducing both structure and equipment investment.
This technical route also replaced the multi-stage AO coupled with MBBR + deep-bed Denitrification filter scheme in the original design of the Binhe Plant, which is precisely the source of the 2.28 亿 yuan in construction investment savings.
Measured Performance of the Binhe Plant
Shenzhen Binhe Water Quality Purification Plant was originally built in 1983 年. Adjacent to the main stream of the Shenzhen River, it undertakes the Domestic Sewage treatment task for over 150 万 residents in Futian and Luohu, while also bearing the important responsibility of source control of Total Nitrogen in rivers flowing into the sea.
- Scale — increased from 30 万 tons/day to 50 万 tons/day, and completed without additional land use and while maintaining production operations;
- Water Quality — since the 2024 年 8 月 water commissioning, the effluent from the Phase I AOA production line has maintained a Total Nitrogen average of approximately 2 mg/L, far below the 8 mg/L discharge limit, with a Total Nitrogen removal rate of approximately 94%; even under high hydraulic shock loads caused by rainfall, the effluent quality remains stable and compliant;
- Benefits — construction investment saved by 2.28 亿 yuan, with simultaneous reductions in multiple operational expenses including electricity consumption, chemicals, and sludge disposal, saving approximately 2961 万 yuan in operating costs per year.
Gu Lingyan, head of AOA process commissioning at Shenzhen Water and Environment Group, introduced that the application of the new process combined with an intelligent control system has effectively reduced the plant's operating costs in electricity, chemicals, and labor. Currently, this technology has been verified and applied at water purification plants including Binhe, Fuyong, and Futian, and has been implemented at 16 wastewater treatment plants nationwide, with a total treatment scale exceeding 240 万 tons/day, gradually forming a complete technology system covering R&D, design, control, and operations.
Why "No Additional Land Use" Is the Most Valuable Statement
For the upgrading and capacity expansion of domestic wastewater treatment plants, the most difficult challenge is often not technology but land use. Existing plants in central urban areas have essentially no surrounding space for expansion, and building new facilities at remote sites means long-distance pipelines, land acquisition and demolition, and lengthy approval cycles. The Binhe Plant is located in the core urban area of Futian, Shenzhen, and its value lies precisely in demonstrating that treatment capacity can be increased by 67% through process reconfiguration at the original site without shutting down operations.
This corresponds to the most common demand among existing domestic wastewater treatment plants: treatment capacity cannot keep up with collection capacity. As sewage networks are improved and collection rates increase across regions (many local "15th Five-Year Plan" targets set the centralized collection rate of urban domestic sewage at 87%—90%), the inflow to plants rises year by year, while the plant boundary red lines were drawn long ago. The commercial value of in-situ capacity expansion processes like AOA emerges precisely from this contradiction.
It is worth noting that industry verification of low-carbon processes is also advancing in parallel. 2026 年 10 月 11 日, the Changzhou Drainage Management Office disclosed the completion of a 50 tons/day AOA pilot platform, directly using the plant's actual influent for normalized continuous testing, conducting multiple rounds of comparison around parameters such as hydraulic retention time, sludge age, dissolved oxygen in the aerobic zone, functional zone ratio, and dual sludge return mode, accumulating replicable parameters for local upgrading and renovation through a "one plant, one platform" approach. This indicates that the promotion of AOA is moving from "direct application" toward a refined stage of "parameter adjustment tailored to local conditions."
On the International Stage: The Export Path of China's Original Process
During this IWA conference, the presence of Chinese water enterprises was notably enhanced. Shenzhen Water and Environment Group stated that it will continue to iterate core proprietary technologies such as Shenshui Smart Nitrogen™ AOA, promote more technology solutions to "go global," and contribute "Shenzhen Water Solutions" to global environmental water governance.
For the industry, the significance of this path lies in: in the past, China's water industry mainly introduced European and American processes and made localized improvements; now it has begun to export original process systems. Total Nitrogen control is a global challenge — especially Total Nitrogen reduction in coastal waters. AOA provides a combined solution of "less chemicals, less electricity, less land, and less construction investment," which has direct applicability in East Asian and Southeast Asian urban agglomerations with tight land resources, high carbon source costs, and strict discharge standards.
- Applicable Scenario 1 — Upgrading and renovation of new wastewater treatment plants: directly adopt AOA layout, eliminating MBBR and deep-bed filters;
- Applicable Scenario 2 — In-situ capacity expansion of existing plants: increase treatment scale without land acquisition or shutdown;
- Applicable Scenario 3 — Energy-saving and consumption-reduction renovation: replace purchased carbon sources with internal carbon sources, simultaneously reducing electricity and chemical consumption.
Conclusion
Behind a gold award is a set of figures that stand up to scrutiny: 50 万 tons/day, Total Nitrogen 2 mg/L, removal rate 94%, investment saved 2.28 亿 yuan, annual savings 2961 万 yuan, 16 plants nationwide at 240 万 tons/day. As the wastewater treatment industry enters the era of stock operation and incremental investment becomes more rational, this type of technology pathway — delivering capacity through process innovation rather than civil construction volume — is likely to represent the main competitive direction for the industry in the next stage.
About TIANYI TECH Co., Ltd.: TIANYI TECH Co., Ltd. (TIANYI LIMITED) focuses on the fields of wastewater treatment, reclaimed water reuse and water environment governance, providing full-chain services including process design, equipment integration, engineering general contracting and smart operation to municipal and industrial clients. The company continuously tracks cutting-edge processes at home and abroad such as low-carbon denitrification, in-situ capacity expansion and smart operation, and is committed to helping existing wastewater treatment plants achieve upgrading, capacity expansion and cost reduction with mature and reliable technical solutions. For more information, please visit the company's official website www.tianyitech.hk.
Sources: State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, "Shenzhen Water Group Shines at IWA World Water Congress and Wins International Award"; People's Daily Online Shenzhen, "Shenzhen Water Group Wins International Innovation Gold Award" (2026 年 10 月 11 日); Guangzhou Daily New Flower City, "Visiting Guangdong's New Water Treatment Solutions: Low-Carbon Innovative Technologies Enable Wastewater Treatment to 'Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiency'" (2026 年 10 月 11 日); Changzhou Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, "Municipal Drainage Management Office Builds AOA Pilot Platform to Help Wastewater Treatment Improve Quality and Reduce Carbon" (2026 年 10 月 11 日). This article is compiled based on the above public reports.
