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Topic · Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

Wastewater Treatment and Reuse is a research topic within Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Science Explorer counts 18k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the various aspects of wastewater reuse, including its benefits, risks, and management practices. It covers topics such as decentralized treatment, resource recovery, sustainability assessment, urban water management, soil and plant quality parameters, public perception, and the health and environmental implications of wastewater irrigation. The research emphasizes the importance of addressing water scarcity through innovative approaches to wastewater reuse.

  • Wastewater Reuse
  • Water Scarcity
  • Sustainability Assessment
  • Decentralized Treatment
  • Resource Recovery
  • Life Cycle Assessment
  • Urban Water Management
  • Soil and Plant Quality
  • Public Perception
  • Health and Environmental Implications
Research works
18k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+9%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
India
21% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

Which countries lead Wastewater Treatment and Reuse research?

By volume, India and China publish the most (548 and 521 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 India 548 works
  2. 2 China 521 works
  3. 3 Brazil 438 works
  4. 4 United States 430 works
  5. 5 Spain 152 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 121 works
  7. 7 Italy 121 works
  8. 8 Nigeria 117 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 116 works
  10. 10 Iran 103 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

India: 20.5%China: 19.5%Brazil: 16.4%United States: 16.1%6 others listed: 27.4%21%largest
India548 · 20.5%China521 · 19.5%Brazil438 · 16.4%United States430 · 16.1%6 others listed731 · 27.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Wastewater Treatment and Reuse research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Wastewater Treatment and Reuse research, followed by Tongji University and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 37 works
  2. 2 Tongji UniversityChina 22 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 22 works
  4. 4 Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchIndia 22 works
  5. 5 Council of Scientific and Industrial ResearchIndia 17 works
  6. 6 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 14 works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 14 works
  8. 8 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 13 works
  9. 9 Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 13 works
  10. 10 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Wastewater Treatment and Reuse?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Wastewater Treatment and Reuse include Guangming Zeng and Menachem Elimelech.

  1. 1 Guangming Zeng China 204k citations
  2. 2 Menachem Elimelech United States 151k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Wastewater Treatment and Reuse?

The most cited paper in Wastewater Treatment and Reuse is "Health risks of heavy metals in contaminated soils and food crops irrigated with wastewater in Beijing, China" (Shakeel A. Khan, Qing L. Cao, Yi Zheng et al., 2007), with 2,384 citations. Next come "Occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in urban wastewater: Removal, mass load and environmental risk after a secondary treatment—A review" (2,170) and "Occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants in municipal wastewater treatment plants from different geographical regions-a review" (1,684).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Health risks of heavy metals in contaminated soils and food crops irrigated with wastewater in Beijing, China Shakeel A. Khan, Qing L. Cao, Yi Zheng et al. · Environmental Pollution Open access 28 Aug 2007 2,384
2 Occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in urban wastewater: Removal, mass load and environmental risk after a secondary treatment—A review Paola Verlicchi, Mustafa Al Aukidy, Elena Zambello · The Science of The Total Environment 12 May 2012 2,170
3 Occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants in municipal wastewater treatment plants from different geographical regions-a review Ngọc Hân Trần, Martin Reinhard, Karina Yew‐Hoong Gin · Water Research 28 Dec 2017 1,684
4 Chemical treatment technologies for waste-water recycling—an overview Vinod Kumar Gupta, Imran Ali, Tawfik Abdo Saleh et al. · RSC Advances Open access 2012 1,621
5 Technical review and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: Current and future challenges for better water supply sustainability Noreddine Ghaffour, Thomas M. Missimer, Gary Lee Amy · Desalination 10 Nov 2012 1,592
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Wastewater Treatment and Reuse research done?

The largest centres of Wastewater Treatment and Reuse research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), New Delhi (India), São Paulo (Brazil) and Nanjing (China).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 135 works
  2. 2 New DelhiIndia 43 works
  3. 3 São PauloBrazil 43 works
  4. 4 NanjingChina 41 works
  5. 5 TehranIran 39 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 33 works
  7. 7 Rio de JaneiroBrazil 32 works
  8. 8 DhakaBangladesh 29 works
  9. 9 LisbonPortugal 28 works
  10. 10 CairoEgypt 28 works
See Wastewater Treatment and Reuse on the map

Where is the best place to study Wastewater Treatment and Reuse?

Among universities, judged by research, Tongji University, University of Palermo and University of Almería score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 22.9%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Tongji UniversityUniversity of AlmeríaUniversity of PalermoSwedish University o…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Tongji UniversityChina 87.324.2%3.5×22 +54.9%
2University of PalermoItaly 70.922.3%8.3×12 +214.3%
3University of AlmeríaSpain 62.322.4%16.9×11 -6.8%
4Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesSweden 62.021.3%14.0×9 -1.0%
5Indian Institute of Technology RoorkeeIndia 61.521.8%6.2×12 +28.6%
6Istanbul Technical UniversityTürkiye 60.822.7%8.6×13 +5.8%
7Makerere UniversityUganda 60.823.2%11.1×8 +54.8%
8Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 60.126.3%1.7×12 +7.4%
9University of Technology SydneyAustralia 59.922.7%5.4×10 -10.1%
10Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 58.622.1%6.8×10 -29.0%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Wastewater Treatment and Reuse, country by country

Is Wastewater Treatment and Reuse research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 9% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Wastewater Treatment and Reuse.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Wastewater Treatment and Reuse as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.021% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Wastewater Treatment and Reuse0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Wastewater Treatment and Reuse over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Wastewater Treatment and Reuse10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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