A UC Davis professor who is the world's foremost expert on safe and beneficial uses of recycled water is the 2001 recipient of the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize.

The prize, which brings the winner $150,000, is considered by water scientists to be on a par with the Nobel Prizes in other disciplines. It is an international environmental award presented in honor of outstanding achievements related to protection of the world's water resources.

The prize winner, Takashi Asano, is a UC Davis adjunct professor of civil and environmental engineering. He has been a teacher and researcher at the university for 20 years.

Asano received the prize for "his outstanding contributions to efficient use of water in the domain of wastewater reclamation, recycling and reuse through theoretical developments, practical research and worldwide adaptation and promotion," wrote the Water Prize nominating committee.

"Dr. Asano's dedication to directing his world-class research toward society's needs makes us all proud to be part of UC Davis," said campus chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "I know he will not mind our basking in a small corner of his well- deserved spotlight."

Throughout the world, Asano has promoted the use of reclaimed water instead of drinking-quality water for purposes such as agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, environmental enhancement, and replenishing of depleted groundwater aquifers.

In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Asano spearheaded basic water-reuse research as the staff of the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in Sacramento. This research culminated in the development of the California Water Recycling Criteria, which now form the basis for most international projects and policies worldwide.

In recent years, Asano has contributed substantially further to this area by improving techni
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Contact: Takashi Asano
tasano@ucdavis.edu
530-753-2193
University of California - Davis
3-Apr-2001