Waste Containment Lining Systems for Antarctica: Ensuring their Performance Under Extreme Conditions. The Australian Antarctic Territory, and elsewhere on the continent, has a legacy of diesel fuel spills. This project aims to better protect the Antarctic environment through a combination of innovative on-site containment and remediation, with state-of-art laboratory-based experimentation to underpin improved design of engineered geosynthetic composite containments. Currently Australia leads ot ....Waste Containment Lining Systems for Antarctica: Ensuring their Performance Under Extreme Conditions. The Australian Antarctic Territory, and elsewhere on the continent, has a legacy of diesel fuel spills. This project aims to better protect the Antarctic environment through a combination of innovative on-site containment and remediation, with state-of-art laboratory-based experimentation to underpin improved design of engineered geosynthetic composite containments. Currently Australia leads other Antarctic countries in the clean-up of contaminated sites and this project seeks to extend this leadership by developing a set of guidelines for containment of contaminated soils to safeguard this unique environment.Read moreRead less
Optimum aeration strategies for shallow tidally flushed lakes. Shallow tidally flushed lakes frequently suffer from water quality problems which include catastrophic fish kills. Frequently these events are related to the response of a highly modified system to a natural event. One event is the change from a saline to a fresh environment with seasonal freshwater inflow, in which case the salt tolerant algal species dies. The balance between photosynthesis, sediment uptake, surface oxygen transfer ....Optimum aeration strategies for shallow tidally flushed lakes. Shallow tidally flushed lakes frequently suffer from water quality problems which include catastrophic fish kills. Frequently these events are related to the response of a highly modified system to a natural event. One event is the change from a saline to a fresh environment with seasonal freshwater inflow, in which case the salt tolerant algal species dies. The balance between photosynthesis, sediment uptake, surface oxygen transfer and flushing is lost, with the result that the lake quickly becomes anoxic, resulting in fish kills. This project examines some aeration solutions to this problem.Read moreRead less
Turbulence and energy dissipation in stepped spillways and urban drainage systems. The economical sustainability of Australia's water resources relies upon an efficient use of its structures. Present water resources are diminishing because of poor engineering design. This issue is critical in both rural and urban Australia. The economical expansions of existing water supplies can be achieved by refurbishing reservoirs, water supply networks and urban water systems. The expertise derived from the ....Turbulence and energy dissipation in stepped spillways and urban drainage systems. The economical sustainability of Australia's water resources relies upon an efficient use of its structures. Present water resources are diminishing because of poor engineering design. This issue is critical in both rural and urban Australia. The economical expansions of existing water supplies can be achieved by refurbishing reservoirs, water supply networks and urban water systems. The expertise derived from the project will spearhead applications in a range of industries dealing with civil and environmental systems.Read moreRead less
Design Rationale for Gated Canal Estates. This project will provide new knowledge on how to design gated canal estates to maximise their water quality and avoid events leading to the development of poor, and even harmful, water quality. It will document this new knowledge as Engineering Design Guidelines, which can be implemented to minimise adverse water quality impacts. A User Manual will also be developed to document the application of water quality decision support systems for use in designi ....Design Rationale for Gated Canal Estates. This project will provide new knowledge on how to design gated canal estates to maximise their water quality and avoid events leading to the development of poor, and even harmful, water quality. It will document this new knowledge as Engineering Design Guidelines, which can be implemented to minimise adverse water quality impacts. A User Manual will also be developed to document the application of water quality decision support systems for use in designing canal estates. This project will foster technology transfer from the research environment to the private and public sectors, also enabling a student to complete a PhD program.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
Qualitative and quantitative modelling of hydraulic fracturing of brittle materials. Few technologies have caused more concern in the general population than the so called hydraulic fracturing technique, applied to enhance the hydraulic conductivity of resource-bearing rocks by injecting high pressure fluids. The concern revolves around uncertainty with leakage of used chemicals to overlying aquifers, unwanted seismic events and surface subsidence. This research, combining experimental and compu ....Qualitative and quantitative modelling of hydraulic fracturing of brittle materials. Few technologies have caused more concern in the general population than the so called hydraulic fracturing technique, applied to enhance the hydraulic conductivity of resource-bearing rocks by injecting high pressure fluids. The concern revolves around uncertainty with leakage of used chemicals to overlying aquifers, unwanted seismic events and surface subsidence. This research, combining experimental and computational investigations, aims to establish fundamental understanding of key processes controlling fracture formation in brittle materials (coal seams and porous rocks) under the action of hydraulic fracturing. The research outcomes will help to assess and minimise the risks associated with the hydraulic fracturing technology. Read moreRead less
Urban flood modelling at speed and scale. Frequent floods in urban areas cause damages comparable to extreme floods. This is likely to intensify with future urbanisation and climate change. Although Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers sustainable urban drainage solutions, there are no models that can select an optimal WSUD system to deliver on a set urban flood mitigation target. The project aims to develop a new generation of fast urban flood models and the-first-of-its-kind WSUD plannin ....Urban flood modelling at speed and scale. Frequent floods in urban areas cause damages comparable to extreme floods. This is likely to intensify with future urbanisation and climate change. Although Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers sustainable urban drainage solutions, there are no models that can select an optimal WSUD system to deliver on a set urban flood mitigation target. The project aims to develop a new generation of fast urban flood models and the-first-of-its-kind WSUD planning tool to support industry and governments to effectively reduce the urban flooding damages. The project outcomes are also applicable for advancing early warning systems and real-time control of floods.Read moreRead less
Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. This project aims to assess the risk of low rates of mixing in sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs, using environmental monitoring and numerical modelling. Emerging evidence suggests sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs could transition to low mixing states with increasing age and projected changes in global climate. While th ....Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. Assessing risk of oligomictic conditions in sub-tropical water supply lakes. This project aims to assess the risk of low rates of mixing in sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs, using environmental monitoring and numerical modelling. Emerging evidence suggests sub-tropical drinking water supply reservoirs could transition to low mixing states with increasing age and projected changes in global climate. While this risk is poorly understood, it could significantly affect the long-term reliability of water supply and potable water treatment costs. Addressing this knowledge gap is expected to develop effective management responses to ensure the long term sustainable use of these water resources.Read moreRead less