Digital and Smart Control of Wastewater Treatment Plants: China's Practice and the Road Ahead

Digital and smart water solutions are being deployed across the full chain of wastewater treatment in China — from intelligent sensing at the process level, to robotic and autonomous plant operation, to group-level management innovation — and will jointly explore with global industry peers the pathway towards autonomous, future-ready water utilities.

The webinar, organised by the IWA Digital Water Programme China Subgroup, will feature three presentations from leading Chinese water utilities and technology providers: 1) AI-powered online SVI monitoring and intelligent microscopy for activated sludge assessment; 2) The migration from robotic inspection to autonomous “lights-out” wastewater treatment plants; 3) and AI-enabled operational model innovation that supports smarter oversight and control of wastewater treatment operations in a large water utility group. A panel discussion joined by industrial experts will follow, exchanging insights on the opportunities, challenges, and strategic roadmap of the water sector’s intelligent transformation and providing a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration among global water professionals.

Industry practitioners, academic researchers, students, engineers, and interested stakeholders in the field of digital and smart water.

Following this session, participants will be able to:

• Apply machine vision and AI-enabled sensing technologies (online SVI monitoring and intelligent microscopy) to achieve continuous, quantitative assessment of activated sludge and wastewater treatment processes.
• Explain the migration pathway from robotic inspection towards integrated, autonomous ("lights-out") wastewater treatment plant operation, including its technical and organisational prerequisites.
• Describe how group-level management frameworks — star-rated classification, cloud-chain-terminal smart operation, and the "1+N" pattern — enable smarter oversight and control of wastewater treatment operations at scale.

• Towards the Autonomous Water Utility: Discover how AI, robotics and digital twins are moving water utilities from assisted operation towards autonomous, lights-out operation, and what this means for safety, compliance and cost across the global water sector.
• China's Practices at Scale: Explore real-world deployments from leading Chinese water utilities and technology providers, spanning AI-powered smart sensing, robotic inspection, and group-level operational model innovation.
• Global Knowledge Exchange and Collaboration: Engage in knowledge exchange, experience sharing, and collaboration with industry experts and thought leaders to discuss the challenges, opportunities and strategic roadmap of the water sector's intelligent transformation.

Moderators

• Dr. Samuela Guida, Strategic Programmes and Engagement Manager, IWA
• Mr. Jiacheng ZHU, Hehui Technology / Event Coordinator / China

Speakers

• Mr. Cedric ZHOU, Deputy Operations Manager, China Everbright Water Ltd / Speaker / China
• Mr. Bin YANG, CEO, Beijing KingTrol Data Technology Co., Ltd. / Speaker / China
• Mr. Li WANG, Deputy General Manager, Hangzhou Beishui Yunfu Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Enterprises Water Group / Speaker / China

Panelists

• Prof. Aijie WANG, Professor, Harbin Institute of Technology; Chair of IWA China Digital Water Committee / Panelist / China
• Dr Giacomo Bellandi, Technology Lead at AM-Team