The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) recently announced that “A Method and Device for Sewage Treatment” (Patent Number: ZL00114693.9) won the 16^th Chinese Excellent Patent Award. Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB) is the first patentee and Prof. WU Zhenbin is the first inventor. 

The patent is the first authorized invention of our country in the field of vertical flow constructed wetlands. It is also the core outcome of the EU international cooperation project conducted by IHB. The patented technology adopts unique structure and processes, featured with alternate multi-function layer, gradient distribution of physical, chemical and biological conditions, uniform flow field and high purification efficiency. It is a breakthrough in the bottleneck of some ecological engineering technology. 

For more than a decade, the technology has been widely used in the treatment of different types of sewage and contaminated surface water. It has been applied in more than 20 provinces on a large scale, promoting in-depth research and massive application of constructed wetlands in China, and thus has achieved significant environmental and economic benefits.  

Fig.1 processes of the patent technology 1-settling pond, 2-push flow pond, 3-downflow bed, 4-upflow bed, 5-water quality modification pond, 6, 7, 8-hydrophyte and hygrophyte, 9-submerged plant, 10, 12, 14-perforated pipe for water distribution, 11, 13, 15- perforated pipe for water collection, 16, 17, 20-coarse substrate, 18, 19, 21-fine substrate.

 

Fig.2 Chinese Excellent Patent Award