Understanding the role of vegetation in nitrogen removal by biofiltration. Many of Australia's bays and waterways are threatened by eutrophication due to excess nitrogen loads, particularly from urban stormwater. Biofiltration systems are a widely used (Melbourne Water alone has a programme of constructing 10000 systems in partnership with municipalities over the next 5 years) and potentially effective treatment, but their nitrogen removal is highly dependent on the type of vegetation used. Th ....Understanding the role of vegetation in nitrogen removal by biofiltration. Many of Australia's bays and waterways are threatened by eutrophication due to excess nitrogen loads, particularly from urban stormwater. Biofiltration systems are a widely used (Melbourne Water alone has a programme of constructing 10000 systems in partnership with municipalities over the next 5 years) and potentially effective treatment, but their nitrogen removal is highly dependent on the type of vegetation used. This project will improve the understanding of the role of vegetation in nitrogen retention by stormwater biofilters, and will thus provide important guidance on plant selection and design for biofiltration.Read moreRead less
Interdisciplinary greenhouse gas assessment - nitrous oxide emissions from marine wastewater disposal. Data generated during this research will resolve ongoing uncertainties surrounding a blind spot in national greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement policy and methodology. Current national and international GHG emission estimates are unable to account for N2O emissions resulting from the downstream disposal phase of the wastewater management cycle, and as a result, actual GHG emissions may be far greate ....Interdisciplinary greenhouse gas assessment - nitrous oxide emissions from marine wastewater disposal. Data generated during this research will resolve ongoing uncertainties surrounding a blind spot in national greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement policy and methodology. Current national and international GHG emission estimates are unable to account for N2O emissions resulting from the downstream disposal phase of the wastewater management cycle, and as a result, actual GHG emissions may be far greater than currently estimated. This research will provide primary data on the magnitude of downstream N2O emissions coming from the near-shore marine disposal of primary-level municipal wastewater in Australia. Results from this research will help quantify the carbon footprint associated with marine disposal of poorly treated effluents worldwide.Read moreRead less
The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals. This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically ....The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals. This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically toxic species. This project will investigate why and how some pharmaceuticals become susceptible to chiral inversion and assess ecotoxicological differences. This work is expected to determine the significance of considering chiral inversion in environmental risk assessment, with applications to a broader range of chemicals including pesticides and industrial chemicals.Read moreRead less
Topology Optimisation for Three-dimensional Periodic Nanophotonic Structures. Three-dimensional dielectric and/or metallic nanophotonic structures are of critical importance to a wide variety of applications ranging from sensing and biomedicine to imaging and information technology. This project aims to establish effective and efficient topology optimisation algorithms for the designs of nanophotonic structures with specific functional properties. The expected outcome will be a new methodology a ....Topology Optimisation for Three-dimensional Periodic Nanophotonic Structures. Three-dimensional dielectric and/or metallic nanophotonic structures are of critical importance to a wide variety of applications ranging from sensing and biomedicine to imaging and information technology. This project aims to establish effective and efficient topology optimisation algorithms for the designs of nanophotonic structures with specific functional properties. The expected outcome will be a new methodology and an advanced design tool for scientists and engineers to create novel nanophotonic structures to improve capabilities in devices such as waveguides, sensors, optical computer chips, superlenses and so on.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR180100030
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,103,883.00
Summary
Development of electrochemically activated sorbents for PFAS defluorination. This project aims to develop a new treatment technology to completely defluorinate per- and poly-fluroalkyl substances (PFAS) and to treat significant water quantities. The majority of existing water treatment technologies are unable to remove PFAS to the desired extent, are prohibitively expensive or are only useful for a very limited lifespan. This project is expected to develop a new treatment technology with the abi ....Development of electrochemically activated sorbents for PFAS defluorination. This project aims to develop a new treatment technology to completely defluorinate per- and poly-fluroalkyl substances (PFAS) and to treat significant water quantities. The majority of existing water treatment technologies are unable to remove PFAS to the desired extent, are prohibitively expensive or are only useful for a very limited lifespan. This project is expected to develop a new treatment technology with the ability to completely defluorinate PFAS, treat significant water quantities and help address many of the pressing concerns facing water treatment operators. This technology is also scalable, and can potentially be used to treat significant quantities of contaminated water.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials. The Centre will consist of leading researchers from four Australian universities, four CSIRO divisions, and two US research centres. The vision is to position Australia as a world leader in nanomaterials science and technology. The Centre will involve nanoscale science for building functional nanostructures of materials at the molecular level. It aims to develop new methods and techniques for self-assembling and characterizing nanomaterials with tailorabl ....ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials. The Centre will consist of leading researchers from four Australian universities, four CSIRO divisions, and two US research centres. The vision is to position Australia as a world leader in nanomaterials science and technology. The Centre will involve nanoscale science for building functional nanostructures of materials at the molecular level. It aims to develop new methods and techniques for self-assembling and characterizing nanomaterials with tailorable properties. The outcomes will include leading-edge science, the development of human capital, and intellectual property in new materials and products for applications in clean energy, environmental, and health care industries.Read moreRead less
Sustainability of water and wastewater treatment chemicals. In recent years, the environmental design and management of water and wastewater treatment facilities has broadened from consideration of water quality outcomes to include the environmental consequences of energy and material inputs. This has produced nationally agreed approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions from power consumption, but for important chemical additives analysts are forced to work with low-quality estimated dat ....Sustainability of water and wastewater treatment chemicals. In recent years, the environmental design and management of water and wastewater treatment facilities has broadened from consideration of water quality outcomes to include the environmental consequences of energy and material inputs. This has produced nationally agreed approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions from power consumption, but for important chemical additives analysts are forced to work with low-quality estimated data. In a time when society wants to account for the 'carbon-footprint' of decisions and more broadly consider the resources used and emissions produced by industry, this research will make this quantitatively possible for chemicals used in water and wastewater treatment.Read moreRead less
Optimising Decentralised Membrane Bioreactors for Water Reuse. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling has emerged as an important component of water management practises throughout Australia. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (or package plants) offer opportunities for water recycling in regional communities; however this application is limited by our understanding on the removal of contaminants of concern through these tr ....Optimising Decentralised Membrane Bioreactors for Water Reuse. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling has emerged as an important component of water management practises throughout Australia. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (or package plants) offer opportunities for water recycling in regional communities; however this application is limited by our understanding on the removal of contaminants of concern through these treatment systems. This project will assess the suitability and efficiency of decentralised membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and pathogens in accordance with the 2006 National Guidelines for Water Recycling.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0883080
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,000.00
Summary
Detection of Trace Concentrations of Chemical Contaminants in Urban Water Systems. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling is becoming more prevalent. The presence of chemical contaminants such as low concentrations (ng/L) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and other organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment has received much attention around the world including Australia due to their ....Detection of Trace Concentrations of Chemical Contaminants in Urban Water Systems. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling is becoming more prevalent. The presence of chemical contaminants such as low concentrations (ng/L) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and other organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment has received much attention around the world including Australia due to their potential biological impact in urban water systems. The proposed equipment aims to establish analytical techniques and instrumental capacity for the selective analysis of chemical contaminants in order to improve our understanding of the fate of these compounds through different urban water systems.Read moreRead less
Optimising dissolved air flotation (DAF) for algae removal by bubble modification in drinking water and advanced wastewater systems. Algal blooms in potable water reservoirs and advanced wastewater treatment lagoons can impact the performance and economic viability of water treatment processes resulting in taste and odour episodes and the risk of algal toxins as well as causing further limitation to already stressed water resources in Australia. This project aims to develop an adaptation of the ....Optimising dissolved air flotation (DAF) for algae removal by bubble modification in drinking water and advanced wastewater systems. Algal blooms in potable water reservoirs and advanced wastewater treatment lagoons can impact the performance and economic viability of water treatment processes resulting in taste and odour episodes and the risk of algal toxins as well as causing further limitation to already stressed water resources in Australia. This project aims to develop an adaptation of the dissolved air flotation process that is already used for algae treatment that will provide a more robust, economic and sustainable barrier to algal cells in accordance with the Australian Drinking and Recycled Water Guidelines.Read moreRead less