Research and Development for Water Reuse Technology in Tropical Regions

Recycling Water in Tropical Regions to Secure Safe and Reliable Drinking Water

Principal Investigator

- Prof.
  YAMAMOTO Kazuo
  Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo

ODA Recipient Country

Kingdom of Thailand

Research Institutions in Japan

The University of Tokyo / Tohoku University / Ritsumeikan University / Waseda University / Yamagata University

Research Institutions in Counterpart Country

Environmental Research and Training Center (ERTC) / Chulalongkorn University (CU) / Kasetsart University (KU)

Adoption fiscal year

FY 2008

Research Period

4 Years

Overview of the Research Project

Seeking technologies for water recycling at a purification facility to meet the rapidly increasing demand for water
Water demand in Thailand is increasing rapidly due to industrialization, urbanization, and so on. However, water resource quantities are unstable, and there are problems with sanitation as well. For this reason, an effort is underway to purify and reuse water that has been used once, in order to secure an adequate quantity of water. The goal of this project is to construct three types of water purification facility suited to the tropical climate and local conditions in Thailand: energy conserving distributed facilities, solar-powered facilities, and facilities that treat water while at the same time producing bioenergy. Demonstration plants have already been set up at locations such as a university campus in Thailand, and development of water recycling technologies is underway.

Experiments and data collection are performed in the same environment as the site to aid in technical development
Water analysis equipment was set up in Thailand to establish a water reuse center as the central institution to drive R&D and the broader adoption of water reuse. In addition to testing and data gathering in Japan, work using test plants is progressing at a Thai university campus and other locations in order to develop new technologies. The test plants for recycling water within local areas are being installed in agricultural districts and at locations such as residential facilities to simultaneously acquire verification data and promote their use in the community.

Photo gallery

Water quality survey at the Chao Phraya River. The data will be made available on a water quality information platform currently under development, in order to make it easy for the general public to learn how good the water quality is.