A unitary liquid flow separator-collector-distributor controls the flow of liquid streams in liquid treatment tanks and treatment methods that can utilize the entire cross section of the vessels in which the treatment takes place. The method for producing high-purity lanthanum, in which Al, Fe, and Cu are respectively contained in the amount of 10 wtppm or less. The tea making mechanism comprises a tea making room and a tea outlet pipe. The multiple modes of operation allow the receiver to process multiple types of waveforms. A frequency of the variation of heating strength that is used to determine the flow speed is selected automatically based on the flow speed andor other circumstances. As such, when the data source is not driving the source synchronous data strobe signal, undesired andor inadvertent latching by the data latch can be avoided.