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Topic · Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Water Treatment and Disinfection

Water Treatment and Disinfection is a research topic within Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the occurrence, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water, with a specific emphasis on the effects of chlorination and alternative disinfectants. It also explores the formation, control, and health implications of various DBPs, including nitrosamines, haloacetic acids, and halonitromethanes. The cluster delves into the microbial ecology of drinking water distribution systems and the characterization of natural organic matter in relation to DBP formation.

  • Disinfection By-Products
  • Drinking Water
  • Genotoxicity
  • Carcinogenicity
  • Water Treatment
  • Chlorination
  • Nitrosamines
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Natural Organic Matter
  • Health Effects
Research works
24k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+9%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
56% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Water Treatment and Disinfection

Which countries lead Water Treatment and Disinfection research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.1k and 555 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2.1k works
  2. 2 United States 555 works
  3. 3 India 250 works
  4. 4 Canada 133 works
  5. 5 Spain 122 works
  6. 6 Germany 116 works
  7. 7 South Korea 112 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 104 works
  9. 9 Japan 103 works
  10. 10 Brazil 94 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.

China: 56.4%United States: 15.2%India: 6.9%Canada: 3.7%6 others listed: 17.8%56%largest
China2,054 · 56.4%United States555 · 15.2%India250 · 6.9%Canada133 · 3.7%6 others listed650 · 17.8%

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

Which institutions lead Water Treatment and Disinfection research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Water Treatment and Disinfection research, followed by Tongji University and Harbin Institute of Technology.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 123 works
  2. 2 Tongji UniversityChina 108 works
  3. 3 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 69 works
  4. 4 Beijing University of TechnologyChina 63 works
  5. 5 Tsinghua UniversityChina 40 works
  6. 6 Xi'an University of Architecture and TechnologyChina 37 works
  7. 7 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 33 works
  8. 8 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 27 works
  9. 9 Zhejiang UniversityChina 27 works
  10. 10 Hohai UniversityChina 27 works

Who are the leading researchers in Water Treatment and Disinfection?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Water Treatment and Disinfection include Rob Knight, Michaël Grätzel and Stuart Pocock.

  1. 1 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  2. 2 Michaël Grätzel Switzerland 458k citations
  3. 3 Stuart Pocock United Kingdom 273k citations
  4. 4 Carlo La Vecchia Italy 258k citations
  5. 5 John C. Morris United States 241k citations
  6. 6 Didier Raoult France 232k citations
  7. 7 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  8. 8 Tim Driscoll Australia 204k citations
  9. 9 Guangming Zeng China 204k citations
  10. 10 Barry B. Halliwell United Kingdom 179k 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 Water Treatment and Disinfection?

The most cited paper in Water Treatment and Disinfection is "Antiseptics and Disinfectants: Activity, Action, and Resistance" (Gerald E. McDonnell, A.D. Russell, 1999), with 4,811 citations. Next come "Combination of 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes with flow cytometry for analyzing mixed microbial populations" (4,069) and "A review on the occurrence of micropollutants in the aquatic environment and their fate and removal during wastewater treatment" (3,980).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Antiseptics and Disinfectants: Activity, Action, and Resistance Gerald E. McDonnell, A.D. Russell · Clinical Microbiology Reviews Open access 1999 4,811
2 Combination of 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes with flow cytometry for analyzing mixed microbial populations Rudolf Amann, Brian J. Binder, Robert Olson et al. · Applied and Environmental Microbiology Open access Jun 1990 4,069
3 A review on the occurrence of micropollutants in the aquatic environment and their fate and removal during wastewater treatment Yunlong Luo, Wenshan Guo, Huu Hao Ngo et al. · The Science of The Total Environment Open access 4 Jan 2014 3,980
4 Persulfate-Based Advanced Oxidation: Critical Assessment of Opportunities and Roadblocks Jaesang Lee, Urs von Gunten, Jae‐Hong Kim · Environmental Science & Technology Open access 17 Feb 2020 3,614
5 Occurrence, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity of regulated and emerging disinfection by-products in drinking water: A review and roadmap for research Susan D. Richardson, Michael J. Plewa, Elizabeth D. Wagner et al. · Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research 13 Sep 2007 3,308
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Water Treatment and Disinfection research done?

The largest centres of Water Treatment and Disinfection research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Shanghai (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Xiamen.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 450 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 193 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 133 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 122 works
  5. 5 HangzhouChina 83 works
  6. 6 HarbinChina 79 works
  7. 7 TianjinChina 74 works
  8. 8 Xi'anChina 72 works
  9. 9 WuhanChina 68 works
  10. 10 QingdaoChina 45 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. XiamenCN · 41.6 works5.4×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Water Treatment and Disinfection than the world average.

See Water Treatment and Disinfection on the map

Where is the best place to study Water Treatment and Disinfection?

Among universities, judged by research, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Tongji University and Beijing University of Technology 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 19.29%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Hong Kong University…The University of Qu…Beijing University o…Tongji University
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
1Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyChina 67.525.3%7.5×13 +3.5%
2Tongji UniversityChina 67.414.6%16.3×108 +25.8%
3Beijing University of TechnologyChina 64.716.7%20.7×63 +79.7%
4The University of QueenslandAustralia 60.125.0%3.2×13 -6.0%
5Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 57.111.4%9.7×69 +30.6%
6Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 54.914.3%3.7×33 +57.5%
7Hunan UniversityChina 54.719.1%5.4×17 +39.1%
8Sichuan UniversityChina 54.627.0%1.8×17 +142.9%
9Hangzhou Normal UniversityChina 50.421.7%11.0×12 +4.3%
10Tsinghua UniversityChina 50.317.8%4.0×40 +2.0%

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 Water Treatment and Disinfection, country by country

Is Water Treatment and Disinfection research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 9% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Water Treatment and Disinfection.

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 Water Treatment and Disinfection as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.021% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Water Treatment and Disinfection0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Water Treatment and Disinfection 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%Water Treatment and Disinfection9.9% 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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