Water treatment and reuse is the key strategy to address the problems of water shortages. To facilitate the communication and application of technology and research in water reclamation, the National Conference on Water Treatment and Reuse of China was held annually in 2017 by the Committee of Water Treatment and Reuse, Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences.

The theme of the 7th conference was the Water Recycling and Integrated Management of Water Systems. The conference, held from April 14 to 16 2023, brought together researchers working in different areas related to water treatment and reuse. More than 13,000 researchers from universities, institutes, and companies attended the conference.

The conference covered 20 topics:

  • 1.

    Physical separation theory and technologies

  • 2.

    Chemical transformation theory and technologies

  • 3.

    Biological purification theory and technologies

  • 4.

    Natural treatment theory and technologies

  • 5.

    Water treatment theory and technology based on microalgae

  • 6.

    Chemical risk and control

  • 7.

    Disinfection and microbial risk control

  • 8.

    Standard and risk control of reclaimed water environment reuse

  • 9.

    Reclaimed water storage and reuse

  • 10.

    Water quality detection and water characteristic research methods

  • 11.

    Standards and policy for water quality control and water resource management

  • 12.

    New materials, reagents, and equipment for water treatment

  • 13.

    Design and intelligent operation of water treatment process

  • 14.

    Urban water system and water recycling

  • 15.

    Industrial water system and water recycling

  • 16.

    Rural water system and water recycling

  • 17.

    Pollution control and utilization of rainwater runoff

  • 18.

    Water environment constructing and regional water recycling

  • 19.

    Watershed environment remediation and water recycling

  • 20.

    Desalination technology and processes

In this special issue of Water Reuse, seven papers that focus on the prevention and control of emerging contaminants were selected among papers presented at the 7th National Conference on Water Treatment and Reuse of China. This special issue is sponsored by CSCEC Scimee Sci. &Tech. Co., Ltd. to cover the article processing charges.

Each of these seven papers focuses on a certain link of water reclamation and reuse. The first four articles focus on water treatment and risk control. Dong et al. (2023) investigated the performance and mechanism of sulfonamide antibiotic degradation by plants in karst areas. Liang et al. (2023) also focused on antibiotics and presented a study on the removal of antibiotics by graphene oxide membranes. Yao et al. (2023) studied the treatment performance and mechanism of gas field wastewater by Fenton/metal sulfide processes. Chen et al. (2023) investigated the biofilm yield and biomass distribution in the process of municipal wastewater treatment by a multi-stage anoxic/oxic-moving bed biofilm reactor system.

Furthermore, two articles are related to the evaluation of biological effects of pollutants. Yuan et al. (2023) reported the effects of chronic zinc exposure on the oxidative stress and neurotoxicity of zebrafish. Li et al. (2023) examined the growth tolerance, bioremoval efficacy, and metabolomic profiles of the cellular responses of Chlorella pyrenoidosa to phenol and 4-fluorophenol.

Lastly, one review paper provides new insights for the application of fluorescence technology. Jing et al. (2023) summarized recent applications of fluorescence analysis in water research for the characterization of pollutants, evaluation of water treatment processes, and monitoring of emerging contaminants.

This special issue deals with various problems and investigates different treatment technologies concerning emerging contaminants. In response to the challenges of severe water shortages and the deterioration of water quality, the focus of cutting-edge technology and systems for water treatment and reuse is fast-growing worldwide. Progress is needed to provide high-quality reclaimed water, minimize the risks to the environment and human health, and support the use of non-conventional water resources.

Chen
N.
,
Wang
X.
,
Huang
M.
,
Maletskyi
Z.
,
Ratnaweera
H.
&
Bi
X.
2023
Quantitative study of biofilm yield and biomass distribution of a multi-stage moving-bed biofilm system
.
Water Reuse
13
(
1
),
250
268
.
Dong
K.
,
Wang
W.
,
Li
M.
,
Zhou
X.
,
Huang
Y.
,
Zhou
G.
,
Xu
Y.
,
Wang
D.
&
Li
H.-X.
2023
Degradation of sulfonamide antibiotics in the rhizosphere of two dominant plants in Huixian karst wetland, Guangxi, China
.
Water Reuse
13
(
1
),
18
32
.
Jing
Z.-B.
,
Wang
W.-L.
,
Nong
Y.-J.
,
Zhu
P.
,
Lu
Y.
&
Wu
Q.-Y.
2023
Fluorescence analysis for water characterization: measurement processes, influencing factors, and data analysis
.
Water Reuse
13
(
1
),
33
50
.
Li
M.
,
Ma
L.
,
An
Y.
,
Wei
D.
,
Ma
H.
,
Zhu
J.
&
Wang
C.
2023
Bioremoval efficiency and metabolomic profiles of cellular responses of Chlorella pyrenoidosa to phenol and 4-fluorophenol
.
Water Reuse
13
(
1
),
97
106
.
Liang
Z.
,
Zhao
X.
,
Huang
W.
,
Qi
H.
&
Wang
C.
2023
Removal of antibiotics with different charges in water by graphene oxide membranes
.
Water Reuse
13
(
1
),
220
232
.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).