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Urban Sanitary Engineering Lab
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A lab pursuing systems that keep drinking water safe.
AboutAbout the lab
Toward sanitation that protects life.
The Urban Sanitary Engineering Lab studies how to ensure the safety and reliability of urban water supply, which is its central focus.
As cities develop, they become more convenient, but they also give rise to a variety of risks.
As for safety, the lab places particular emphasis on how to reduce the health risks posed by the environment.
The lab also works on evaluating and controlling the safety of drinking water, designing water supply systems for a shrinking population, and communication with citizens.
Key terms
- Disinfection by-products
- Harmful substances formed when substances in water react with chlorine during disinfection
- Legionella
- Bacteria that can multiply in water such as in water pipes and baths, and cause pneumonia
- Small-scale water supply systems
- Small waterworks that serve communities of several dozen to about a hundred people. They are often managed by the residents themselves
NewsLab news
Paper accepted in Journal of Environmental Sciences
A master's student received the Research Encouragement Award at the Symposium of the Kyoto University Environmental Sanitary Engineering Research Forum
Professor Sadahiko Itoh received the Japan Society on Water Environment 2025 Academic Award
Lecturer Tomohiro Nakanishi received the Japan Society on Water Environment 2025 Paper Encouragement Award (Hirose Award)
Paper accepted in Applied and Environmental Microbiology
ResearchResearch themes
Focusing on water supply among urban functions, the lab pursues ways to ensure safety and reliability. It carries out both experimental research, such as evaluating drinking water safety and developing water purification systems, and planning-oriented research that incorporates water source management and the perspectives of citizens.
*Illustrative imageSanitation and management of small water supply systems
As the population declines, small-scale water supply systems managed by residents are becoming more important, but their water purification and disinfection are sometimes inadequate. The lab shows how to secure safe drinking water with limited water quality information, and presents practical methods of water quality management.
*Illustrative imageManaging microbial risks in water supply
Tap water disinfected with chlorine is not sterile, and climate change and aging water pipes make microbial growth more likely. Using genetic analysis to examine the microorganisms in the water purification process, the lab studies methods for detecting pathogenic bacteria in source water and for suppressing Legionella in service pipes.
*Illustrative imageIdentifying the precursors of disinfection by-products
In water treatment, substances in the water can turn into harmful disinfection by-products and chlorinous odor compounds. Using precision techniques such as mass spectrometry, the lab clarifies the properties and structures of these precursors derived from algae, and investigates how to remove them during treatment.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Urban Sanitary Engineering Lab are faculty and students in the doctoral program, the master's program, and the undergraduate program.
- ProfessorSadahiko Itoh
- LecturerTomohiro Nakanishi
- Assistant ProfessorMidori Yasui
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Kaitoke weir and water supply intake” Marshelec / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Sanitation and management of small water supply systems: “Overhead water tank Raichur Karnataka rural water supply India” Vraj Acharya, WELL Labs / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Managing microbial risks in water supply: “Turbidity of bacteria in Peptone water” Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Identifying the precursors of disinfection by-products: “Young Wong Ham checking chlorine level of local water source in La Paz, Honduras (5421482)” Staff Sgt. Eric Summers / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Environmental Design Engineering Lab): “Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant from lookout” 4300streetcar / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Planning and Management Lab): “RENFE Class 730 Viaducto Martin Gil” Kabelleger / David Gubler (http://www.bahnbilder.ch) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Environmental Health Lab): “Air pollution amid blue skies, the day after reopening from lockdown near Mumbai” Sumaira Abdulali / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Geotechnical Disaster Prevention Engineering Lab): “Some effects of soil liquefaction after the 2024 Noto earthquake at zenku,nishi-ku,Niigata-city 3” Cp9asngf / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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