Ecological regime shifts for re-engineering water pollution management. This project aims to validate a framework for the management of water pollution. As the world population increases, maintaining robust, cost-effective and environmentally safe water resources is important. This project will investigate environmental controls of toxin occurrence in urban and wastewater systems. The project is expected to mitigate deadly cyanotoxins, which threaten the safety of water resources, while a numeri ....Ecological regime shifts for re-engineering water pollution management. This project aims to validate a framework for the management of water pollution. As the world population increases, maintaining robust, cost-effective and environmentally safe water resources is important. This project will investigate environmental controls of toxin occurrence in urban and wastewater systems. The project is expected to mitigate deadly cyanotoxins, which threaten the safety of water resources, while a numerical ecological model will tackle water pollution issues in natural and engineered water systems.Read moreRead less
Sequencing and assembling microbial community metagenomes in real-time. This project aims to assemble metagenomes directly from environmental samples using nanopore sequencing. Short-read approaches to metagenomics cannot assemble mixed genomes from an environmental sample, so focus on describing which species and genes are present. Long-read nanopore sequencing enables the assembly of full genomes of multiple species in a sample. Assembling complete genomes in important resources such as water ....Sequencing and assembling microbial community metagenomes in real-time. This project aims to assemble metagenomes directly from environmental samples using nanopore sequencing. Short-read approaches to metagenomics cannot assemble mixed genomes from an environmental sample, so focus on describing which species and genes are present. Long-read nanopore sequencing enables the assembly of full genomes of multiple species in a sample. Assembling complete genomes in important resources such as water and soil should lead to deeper understanding of the dynamics, variation and transfer of genetic material within these resources’ microbial communities, strategies to manage microbial diversity, and improved productivity and long-term sustainability for these resources.Read moreRead less
Understanding the fluid mechanics of unsteady friction. Unsteady fluids flows are common in the fields of technology, engineering and physiology. This project brings together a multi-disciplinary team to consider the issue of unsteady friction. The research will focus on understanding the behaviour of water in pipes when subject to very fast transient events (such as those which cause the common problem of water hammer in the home). The project will produce new results that will be used by water ....Understanding the fluid mechanics of unsteady friction. Unsteady fluids flows are common in the fields of technology, engineering and physiology. This project brings together a multi-disciplinary team to consider the issue of unsteady friction. The research will focus on understanding the behaviour of water in pipes when subject to very fast transient events (such as those which cause the common problem of water hammer in the home). The project will produce new results that will be used by water engineers to design improved techniques for the rapid non-invasive identification of leaks in underground pipelines. As such our research has the potential to contribute huge savings to Australia's increasingly valuable water resources. Read moreRead less
Disinfection by-products formed during drinking water treatment: reducing the unknowns is managing risk. Disinfection of drinking water is a successful measure to reduce water-borne diseases and protect health. However, epidemiological evidence links bladder cancer to disinfection by-products formed during drinking water treatment. Despite decades of research the causative agents remain to be identified. To fill this knowledge gap, this project will quantify the fraction of toxicity that cannot ....Disinfection by-products formed during drinking water treatment: reducing the unknowns is managing risk. Disinfection of drinking water is a successful measure to reduce water-borne diseases and protect health. However, epidemiological evidence links bladder cancer to disinfection by-products formed during drinking water treatment. Despite decades of research the causative agents remain to be identified. To fill this knowledge gap, this project will quantify the fraction of toxicity that cannot be explained by known chemicals in water samples treated with different disinfectants using a combination of chemical analysis and in-vitro bioassays. Samples with high unexplained effects will then be fractionated to isolate toxicologically relevant disinfection by-products, which will ultimately be identified with non-target chemical analysis.Read moreRead less
Robust streamflow predictions by improving the identification of hydrological model structure. This project aims to provide Australian environmental agencies, design engineers and policy-makers with robust methods that better utilise observed environmental data and process understanding to produce hydrological models with stronger scientific basis and improved operational predictive ability in gauged and ungauged catchments.
Novel water treatment processes. The objective of this project is the discovery of novel methods for the treatment and reuse of water for both industrial and household applications. Improved treatment systems with the potential for water reuse offer significant improvements to our overall water management potential. The first part of the project is designed to focus on the study of hot bubble column evaporators for solute decomposition, sterilisation and the de-watering of heavily contaminated i ....Novel water treatment processes. The objective of this project is the discovery of novel methods for the treatment and reuse of water for both industrial and household applications. Improved treatment systems with the potential for water reuse offer significant improvements to our overall water management potential. The first part of the project is designed to focus on the study of hot bubble column evaporators for solute decomposition, sterilisation and the de-watering of heavily contaminated industrial wastewater. The second part would be based on the study of a suitable depth filter medium for the treatment of partially treated household sewage water. This is designed to form part of an on-site household sewage water treatment and reuse system which is currently being developed.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
High performance multifunctional hierarchical structured membrane for water processing. The water processing industry is one of the most important economic sectors in Australia, though water scarcity is an economic limiting growth factor. The project targets at developing the next generation water processing technology affordable to residential consumption and applications in the industry and agriculture.
International Trade Policy and the Dynamics of Open Economies. The project is concerned with the relationship between an open economy's international trading conditions and the allocation of resources within the economy, particularly over time (dynamic effects). The trading conditions reflect international markets and governments' trade policies. The dynamic effects upon the economy include the rate of growth, saving and inter-generation welfare. The models developed to study these relationship ....International Trade Policy and the Dynamics of Open Economies. The project is concerned with the relationship between an open economy's international trading conditions and the allocation of resources within the economy, particularly over time (dynamic effects). The trading conditions reflect international markets and governments' trade policies. The dynamic effects upon the economy include the rate of growth, saving and inter-generation welfare. The models developed to study these relationships will link international markets with domestic and future markets in a unified and consistent manner. The outcomes include a better theoretical understanding of these relationships and empirical inter-temporal models for the Australian economy that permit measurement of these dynamic effects.Read moreRead less
Continuous non-invasive assessment of the physical condition of water distribution systems. Water distribution systems represent the single most important part of a society's infrastructure yet there are no comprehensive methods for detecting or assessing their physical condition. A suite of techniques (including those adapted from radar and sonar) for pro-active condition assessment will be developed in this research. The objective is to add significant intelligent and sophisticated numerical m ....Continuous non-invasive assessment of the physical condition of water distribution systems. Water distribution systems represent the single most important part of a society's infrastructure yet there are no comprehensive methods for detecting or assessing their physical condition. A suite of techniques (including those adapted from radar and sonar) for pro-active condition assessment will be developed in this research. The objective is to add significant intelligent and sophisticated numerical modelling capability to enable the non-invasive analysis of the transient pressure data, and to enable real-world application. This research will enable the continuous assessment of the physical condition of the entire water distribution system from an operations room resulting in significant savings.Read moreRead less