Large-scale Chinese programme 'uses iron to treat wastewater'

A professor working on one of the largest-scale iron-related wastewater treatment projects ever conducted has spoken out about its progress.

Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering Wei-xian Zhang started out by using two million pounds of iron to remove toxins in wastewater, thebrownandwhite.com reported.

Once the testing proved successful, he and his colleagues were offered a grant from Shanghai's city government in order to build a treatment reactor with the ability to treat around 16 million gallons of wastewater on a daily basis.

Mr Zhang said he is proud of the project as it is "one of the largest of its kind in the world".

He also added: "We were able to make very effective technology, especially for developing countries, because they can recycle all the scrap iron."

The country's capital city, Beijing, is currently suffering from a water shortage which has temporarily been quenched by the arrival of water supplies from the neighboring province of Heibei.