(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 23, 2017) – A contingent of 11 Chinese environmental engineering professors recently toured Gwinnett County’s state-of-the-art F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center to gather ideas to take back to their homeland.  The Chinese delegation’s visit was organized by a Georgia Institute of Technology environmental engineering faculty member.

The F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center is one of the largest ozone and membrane wastewater treatment facilities in the world. Its size and technologically advanced treatment processes attract visitors from across the globe.

“During their time here, some of the topics they will learn about include drinking water production, wastewater treatment and recycling in the U.S.,” said Dr. Guangxuan Zhu, Senior Research Scientist and Laboratory manager with the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The professors were impressed to learn that the water Gwinnett County returns to Lake Lanier is some of the highest quality effluent in the Southeast United States. The visitors were especially intrigued by the Ostara Pearl® nutrient recovery process, which recovers phosphorus and other nutrients from the wastewater streams and transforms them into environmentally responsible fertilizer.

During the tour, DWR Deputy Director J. C. Lan, Robert Harris, operations process engineer, and Gaya Ram Mohan, facility engineer, fielded technical questions about the various systems and processes used to reclaim the water before it is returned to Lake Lanier.

When their time in the U.S. has concluded, the professors will take the knowledge they have gleaned from Gwinnett County and other organizations and use it to continue to improve water production and reclamation in China.

The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources is a publicly owned utility committed to providing superior water, wastewater, and stormwater services at an excellent value to residents and businesses. DWR is widely recognized for innovation and service excellence as well as stewardship of the environmental resources in Gwinnett County. For more information, visit www.gwinnettH2O.com.