Effect of faults and barriers on groundwater flow and solute transport. This project will address the role of faults and dykes on groundwater flow and solute transport. Faults and dykes can act as barriers to groundwater flow, yet faults can also be conduits for flow through otherwise impermeable layers. Understanding their role is critical to assessing the impacts of mining, unconventional gas and water resource developments. This project expects to develop new methods to quantify groundwater f ....Effect of faults and barriers on groundwater flow and solute transport. This project will address the role of faults and dykes on groundwater flow and solute transport. Faults and dykes can act as barriers to groundwater flow, yet faults can also be conduits for flow through otherwise impermeable layers. Understanding their role is critical to assessing the impacts of mining, unconventional gas and water resource developments. This project expects to develop new methods to quantify groundwater flow through and along faults and dykes by combining geological, hydraulic and geochemical approaches with detailed 3D numerical models. The expected outcome will be an improved understanding of the role of faults and barriers in subsurface hydrology, and an improved ability to model complex groundwater systems.Read moreRead less
Network Calming - Using Smart Sensors to Improve Water Asset Performance. Recent high-frequency monitoring in water distribution networks (WDNs) shows that pressure perturbations are significantly more dramatic than expected and cause pipe failures with highly disruptive consequences. This project aims to hydraulically calm WDNs to improve their performance, informed by smart sensors. The project will generate insightful knowledge of the hydraulic behaviour of real WDNs. The outcomes will be new ....Network Calming - Using Smart Sensors to Improve Water Asset Performance. Recent high-frequency monitoring in water distribution networks (WDNs) shows that pressure perturbations are significantly more dramatic than expected and cause pipe failures with highly disruptive consequences. This project aims to hydraulically calm WDNs to improve their performance, informed by smart sensors. The project will generate insightful knowledge of the hydraulic behaviour of real WDNs. The outcomes will be new strategies to identify, eliminate and suppress harmful pressure perturbations, leading to a reduced burst rate, extended asset life, improved system operation and advanced design principles. The resultant sustainable water assets provide significant economic and environmental benefits to the water industry and society.Read moreRead less
Closing the Gap in Pipe Condition Assessment using Hydro-Acoustic Waves. Worldwide, the deterioration of water distribution pipeline infrastructure is driving an unsustainable explosion in maintenance and repair costs. In collaboration with industry leader Detection Services, this project will develop new methods to detect pipe condition faults at a scale and precision not currently possible. The outcome will be an advanced, yet practical, technology that provides critical information on pipe co ....Closing the Gap in Pipe Condition Assessment using Hydro-Acoustic Waves. Worldwide, the deterioration of water distribution pipeline infrastructure is driving an unsustainable explosion in maintenance and repair costs. In collaboration with industry leader Detection Services, this project will develop new methods to detect pipe condition faults at a scale and precision not currently possible. The outcome will be an advanced, yet practical, technology that provides critical information on pipe condition using new innovative active hydro-acoustic signal generators and sensors, combined with state-of-the-art signal analysis methods. The unprecedented cost-effectiveness of the technology will ensure a broad use in the water industry for targeted and efficient action, creating jobs and saving costs.Read moreRead less
Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely ....Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely collected in Australia's catchments and thereby better predict water quality behaviour. Proposed field studies aim to support this development. The outcomes sought are improved planning and management of water quality in our rivers, lakes and estuaries, improved health of these water bodies and improved water supplies.Read moreRead less
Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will appl ....Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will apply novel hydrogeophysical and hydrochemical methods, and computer modelling, to investigate the source aquifer of, and fate of discharge from the Doongmabulla Springs Complex (DSC), located in an area of future development. Project results will inform spring vulnerability to development pressures and climate effects.Read moreRead less
Unsaturated zone functioning in a semi-arid flash flood driven climate. Groundwater is the only perennial water source in arid and semiarid zones, which encompass 1/3 of the global landmass and 70 % of Australia. We still do not fully understand how the unsaturated zone contributes to groundwater recharge in semi-arid zone floodplains. We will study the dynamics of soil moisture, and its contribution to groundwater recharge respective to hydrological regimes and weather patterns. We will measure ....Unsaturated zone functioning in a semi-arid flash flood driven climate. Groundwater is the only perennial water source in arid and semiarid zones, which encompass 1/3 of the global landmass and 70 % of Australia. We still do not fully understand how the unsaturated zone contributes to groundwater recharge in semi-arid zone floodplains. We will study the dynamics of soil moisture, and its contribution to groundwater recharge respective to hydrological regimes and weather patterns. We will measure direct responses to flood events using loggers and compare them to indirect measurements inferred from hydrochemical and isotope tracer models to better understand recharge patterns, evaporative losses, and interactions between surface runoff, floodplains, and aquifers at different positions in the landscape.Read moreRead less
Detecting developing cracks before pipe bursts using smart sensor systems. This project aims to significantly reduce the number of pipe bursts in cities by detecting the leaks from developing cracks on water supply pipes just in time. New techniques will be developed for reliable and timely detection using the existing sensor network in the Adelaide CBD. Specialised monitoring stations will be developed with adaptive noise-cancellation algorithms to detect small leak signals in noisy city enviro ....Detecting developing cracks before pipe bursts using smart sensor systems. This project aims to significantly reduce the number of pipe bursts in cities by detecting the leaks from developing cracks on water supply pipes just in time. New techniques will be developed for reliable and timely detection using the existing sensor network in the Adelaide CBD. Specialised monitoring stations will be developed with adaptive noise-cancellation algorithms to detect small leak signals in noisy city environments. Expected outcomes include an effective pipe burst early warning system and the implementation of an active burst prevention and targeted pipe replacement strategy. This should significantly reduce the burst rates and associated interruptions in Adelaide and save millions of dollars every year in pipe relay programs.Read moreRead less
Sewer Monitoring and Management in the Digital Era. Overflow, flooding, corrosion, and odorous emissions are persistent issues for utilities managing sewers. Current sewer maintenance is reactive, and focuses on solving problems in local networks, despite that optimal solutions require a system-wide approach. Capitalising on recent development in IoT sensors, wireless transmission, and machine learning, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop digital-twin supported data analytics for proa ....Sewer Monitoring and Management in the Digital Era. Overflow, flooding, corrosion, and odorous emissions are persistent issues for utilities managing sewers. Current sewer maintenance is reactive, and focuses on solving problems in local networks, despite that optimal solutions require a system-wide approach. Capitalising on recent development in IoT sensors, wireless transmission, and machine learning, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop digital-twin supported data analytics for proactive sewer management including network-wide real-time control. The project aims to generate significant social, environmental and economic benefits by enabling utilities to better protect public and environmental health, reduce sewer odour and greenhouse gas emissions, and extend sewer asset life.Read moreRead less
Saving Nemo: Reducing animal use in toxicity assessments of wastewater. Every day, Australians produce ~5 billion litres of wastewater, which contains a cocktail of chemicals. Industries that discharge wastewater are required to assess chemical risks to the receiving environments by conducting whole animal direct toxicity assessments (DTA), which are expensive and pose an ethical dilemma. Our preliminary research shows that new in vitro bioassays provide an ethical and cost effective alternative ....Saving Nemo: Reducing animal use in toxicity assessments of wastewater. Every day, Australians produce ~5 billion litres of wastewater, which contains a cocktail of chemicals. Industries that discharge wastewater are required to assess chemical risks to the receiving environments by conducting whole animal direct toxicity assessments (DTA), which are expensive and pose an ethical dilemma. Our preliminary research shows that new in vitro bioassays provide an ethical and cost effective alternative that could be incorporated into DTA programs if their ecological relevance can be demonstrated. This project will develop and validate a new and internationally significant suite of in vitro bioassays for incorporation into DTA programs, leading to more ethical, cost effective and improved environmental protection.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR180100036
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,054.00
Summary
Remediation of PFAS in current and legacy biosolids application sites. This project aims to develop novel immobilisation, adsorption and/or thermal destruction methods for biosolids, soil and groundwater in current and legacy per- and poly-fluroalkyl substance (PFAS) sites receiving biosolids. Biosolids generated during waste water treatment carry an unknown potential risk of soil and groundwater PFAS contamination, through their application in agriculture and rehabilitation sites. This project ....Remediation of PFAS in current and legacy biosolids application sites. This project aims to develop novel immobilisation, adsorption and/or thermal destruction methods for biosolids, soil and groundwater in current and legacy per- and poly-fluroalkyl substance (PFAS) sites receiving biosolids. Biosolids generated during waste water treatment carry an unknown potential risk of soil and groundwater PFAS contamination, through their application in agriculture and rehabilitation sites. This project will provide the first major investigation of the release, fate and remediation of perfluorinated compounds in relation to their environmental pathways through wastewater treatment plants in Australia. The data will be evaluated to determine if perfluorinated compounds should be further incorporated into Australian soil and water quality monitoring programs. The project will provide evidence of research advice and methodologies being successfully adopted by water industry end-users, government regulatory agencies and private remediation industries.Read moreRead less