Passive biofiltration processes for nitrogen removal from polluted waters. Traditional urban wastewater treatment is energy and resource demanding. By combining principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) with advanced pollutant removal processes, we will create necessary knowledge to underpin development of novel sustainable urban water treatment systems. This project aims to understand and utilise Simultaneous Nitrification, Anammox and Denitrification (SNAD) processes within passive pla ....Passive biofiltration processes for nitrogen removal from polluted waters. Traditional urban wastewater treatment is energy and resource demanding. By combining principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) with advanced pollutant removal processes, we will create necessary knowledge to underpin development of novel sustainable urban water treatment systems. This project aims to understand and utilise Simultaneous Nitrification, Anammox and Denitrification (SNAD) processes within passive plant-soil-based biofilters for cost-effective removal of nitrogen from a range of polluted urban water sources. The project will open a potential for a new technological advancements in urban water management, while simultaneously providing benefits to the environment and community through greening and waterway protection.Read moreRead less
Activating lazy stormwater wetlands through real time monitoring & control. Constructed stormwater wetlands are the last line of defence preventing pollution of urban waterways, but wetlands often fail, with their passive operation unable to adapt to the highly variable climate and hydrology they experience. This project aims to use advances in real-time control technology to turn these lazy wetlands into active wetland systems, optimising their performance. It aims to deliver new-generation tec ....Activating lazy stormwater wetlands through real time monitoring & control. Constructed stormwater wetlands are the last line of defence preventing pollution of urban waterways, but wetlands often fail, with their passive operation unable to adapt to the highly variable climate and hydrology they experience. This project aims to use advances in real-time control technology to turn these lazy wetlands into active wetland systems, optimising their performance. It aims to deliver new-generation technologies to enhance water quality treatment, enhance urban water security and guarantee environmental flows to maintain healthy waterways. Working in partnership with waterway managers and water retailers, this project strives to deliver a nationally and globally relevant technology to change how we manage water in cities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101155
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,952.00
Summary
From stormwater to potable water via Water Sensitive Urban Design? The project aims to develop a framework that contains viable procedures to quantify, control and monitor the health risks associated with stormwater harvesting using Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) systems (i.e., natural-based solutions). It expects to address the concerns about the safety of stormwater harvesting via WSUD for all end-uses. It will generate new knowledge regarding the real time control and monitoring of WSUD, ....From stormwater to potable water via Water Sensitive Urban Design? The project aims to develop a framework that contains viable procedures to quantify, control and monitor the health risks associated with stormwater harvesting using Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) systems (i.e., natural-based solutions). It expects to address the concerns about the safety of stormwater harvesting via WSUD for all end-uses. It will generate new knowledge regarding the real time control and monitoring of WSUD, thus truly advancing the WUSD technology as emerging urban green infrastructure for reliable stormwater harvesting. Expected outcomes include next generation of WSUDs implemented with real time control techniques, as well as a suite of easy-to-measure surrogate parameters for real time water quality monitoring.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100481
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$388,673.00
Summary
Illuminating Dark Fibres for Smart Water Asset Monitoring. Smart water networks formed by fleets of acoustic sensors to detect developing cracks in water networks have grown rapidly in the past decade but are costly to install and maintain. This project aims to overcome this challenge by exploiting unused underground optical fibre cables that are ubiquitous in cities. The result will be low-cost and ready-made distributed sensing systems that protect critical water supplies, supported by intelli ....Illuminating Dark Fibres for Smart Water Asset Monitoring. Smart water networks formed by fleets of acoustic sensors to detect developing cracks in water networks have grown rapidly in the past decade but are costly to install and maintain. This project aims to overcome this challenge by exploiting unused underground optical fibre cables that are ubiquitous in cities. The result will be low-cost and ready-made distributed sensing systems that protect critical water supplies, supported by intelligent data analytic algorithms that can translate real-time data into valuable information to optimise water asset monitoring. The research outcomes will stimulate a technological revolution in smart water networks, accelerate water digitalisation globally and bring significant economic and social benefits.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100117
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,612.00
Summary
Multiobjective optimisation of reservoir operations under uncertainty. This project aims to address a crucial water resources management problem: how to manage reservoirs under uncertainty. This project expects to develop an optimisation-based framework to improve the delivery of water resources from optimised reservoir operational strategies. Expected outcomes include an innovative tool for multiobjective decision-making under uncertainty, and robust operational strategies catering for real-wor ....Multiobjective optimisation of reservoir operations under uncertainty. This project aims to address a crucial water resources management problem: how to manage reservoirs under uncertainty. This project expects to develop an optimisation-based framework to improve the delivery of water resources from optimised reservoir operational strategies. Expected outcomes include an innovative tool for multiobjective decision-making under uncertainty, and robust operational strategies catering for real-world operational situations, including conflicting objectives, natural variability in system inputs, and future uncertainty due to climate change and population growth. The improved decisions will protect lives and assets, and postpone expensive infrastructure upgrades by maximising benefits from current systems.Read moreRead less
Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies ....Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies of hydro-climate forecasting, with federal, state and regional water agencies.Read moreRead less
Mitigating the risk of cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater ponds. Cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater treatment plants impact on effluent quality and the utility of recycled water, posing a significant risk to the economy, the environment and public health. To understand the causes of cyanobacterial blooms in pond-based wastewater treatment plants and the risk they pose, this project will use the latest molecular techniques to examine how the microbial communities within these systems interact w ....Mitigating the risk of cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater ponds. Cyanobacterial blooms in wastewater treatment plants impact on effluent quality and the utility of recycled water, posing a significant risk to the economy, the environment and public health. To understand the causes of cyanobacterial blooms in pond-based wastewater treatment plants and the risk they pose, this project will use the latest molecular techniques to examine how the microbial communities within these systems interact with each other and their surrounding environment to form blooms and produce toxins and other harmful metabolites. Such knowledge will inform risk assessment and provide strategies for the mitigation of future bloom events, improving the security of our increasingly valuable recycled water resources.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100222
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$865,628.00
Summary
Large scale urban stormwater reuse: safe, clear and odourless water supply. This project aims to improve the resilience of Australian water supplies by building capacity in urban stormwater reuse. The project expects to address an industry-identified need to determine the suitability of urban lakes and wetlands for stormwater harvesting and develop chemical-sensory monitoring techniques to assess the quality of harvested water. Expected outcomes include the establishment of satellite-based remot ....Large scale urban stormwater reuse: safe, clear and odourless water supply. This project aims to improve the resilience of Australian water supplies by building capacity in urban stormwater reuse. The project expects to address an industry-identified need to determine the suitability of urban lakes and wetlands for stormwater harvesting and develop chemical-sensory monitoring techniques to assess the quality of harvested water. Expected outcomes include the establishment of satellite-based remote sensing as a key technology for stormwater applications and the widespread use of improved techniques for monitoring odorants by the water industry. This should provide significant benefits by informing adaptive planning and infrastructure readiness at water utilities and guiding Australian policy on stormwater reuse.Read moreRead less