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
On-line monitoring of cyanobacteria to predict coagulant doses and powdered activated carbon application in water treatment. Cyanobacteria, more commonly known as blue-green algae, can impact water quality by releasing toxins that can be harmful to human health and imparting unpleasant taste and odours to the water. This project will support the water industry in managing these risks by providing a rapid, on-line tool to assist in their removal during water treatment.
Performance of waste stabilisation ponds: controlling factors, novel performance indicators, and risk assessment. As the world population increases, maintaining robust, cost-effective and environmentally safe wastewater treatment systems is of vital importance. This project will enhance the ability to design, operate and manage Australia's extensive wastewater infrastructure for safer and more sustainable water resources in Australia and the world.
Internal wave energetics, mixing and transport in lakes. The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of the physical processes controlling water quality in lakes. Water supplies world-wide are under increasing pressure from development, usually resulting in decreasing water quality. The biology and chemistry in lakes is controlled primarily by physical processes, and so understanding these processes is crucial to managing water quality in lakes and reservoirs. The outcomes of this p ....Internal wave energetics, mixing and transport in lakes. The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of the physical processes controlling water quality in lakes. Water supplies world-wide are under increasing pressure from development, usually resulting in decreasing water quality. The biology and chemistry in lakes is controlled primarily by physical processes, and so understanding these processes is crucial to managing water quality in lakes and reservoirs. The outcomes of this project will be improved tools for the management of these water resources, as all the research findings will be incorporated into already existing numerical models for lake management.Read moreRead less
More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the ....More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the relationship between tree cover, carbon uptake, water yield and biodiversity. The outcomes will allow government agencies, landowners and carbon farming groups to better evaluate the effects of different landscape planning options and contribute to effective long-term planning for multiple goals.Read moreRead less
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
Maximizing reservoir water quality security through the use of a Lake Diagnostic System (LDS) and a Controlled Lagrangian Drogue (CLD). It is proposed to build on recent advancements in limnological research and existing measurement technologies to develop the hardware, algorithms and software to form a unique real time reservoir water quality management system, driven by minimal measurement inputs. This will remove the reliance on extensive expensive reservoir monitoring, previously necessary ....Maximizing reservoir water quality security through the use of a Lake Diagnostic System (LDS) and a Controlled Lagrangian Drogue (CLD). It is proposed to build on recent advancements in limnological research and existing measurement technologies to develop the hardware, algorithms and software to form a unique real time reservoir water quality management system, driven by minimal measurement inputs. This will remove the reliance on extensive expensive reservoir monitoring, previously necessary to characterize the lake spatial variability and seasonality, for full 3D modelling. This project will deliver to industry: two measurement tools to simplify reservoir monitoring, the LDS and CLD; and software tools to manage real time data collection, provide decision support to reservoir managers and to enable ?on-demand? scenario predictions.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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775548
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Advanced characterisation facilities for functional nanostructured materials. A critical factor that enhances frontier research is a set of advanced core research experimental facilities for material characterisation purposes. The proposed equipment aims to: (1) provide research facilities for advanced nanomaterial research; (2) improve national competitiveness and growth in a knowledge-based economy; and (3) foster local talented researchers in order to meet the strategic needs of the nation fo ....Advanced characterisation facilities for functional nanostructured materials. A critical factor that enhances frontier research is a set of advanced core research experimental facilities for material characterisation purposes. The proposed equipment aims to: (1) provide research facilities for advanced nanomaterial research; (2) improve national competitiveness and growth in a knowledge-based economy; and (3) foster local talented researchers in order to meet the strategic needs of the nation for a sustainable environment. These activities will revitalise Australia's leading role in creating new technologies with particular relevance to using advanced nanostructures for the production of clean air and water, and sustainable energy alternatives.Read moreRead less
Catchment water balance and CO2 fluxes: a comparison between productive land uses. The aim of the project is to improve the understanding of different land use implications on water resource and land productivity. The project aims to use a paired-catchment study that compares the carbon and water balances in two catchments in the high rainfall zone in south western Victoria. One catchment is used prevalently for grazing, while the other is predominantly planted with blue gums. The main objective ....Catchment water balance and CO2 fluxes: a comparison between productive land uses. The aim of the project is to improve the understanding of different land use implications on water resource and land productivity. The project aims to use a paired-catchment study that compares the carbon and water balances in two catchments in the high rainfall zone in south western Victoria. One catchment is used prevalently for grazing, while the other is predominantly planted with blue gums. The main objectives of this project are: to quantify the effect of different agricultural land uses on the catchment water balance; to estimate the trade-off between carbon sequestration and water resources related to tree plantations and pastures; and to develop models at different spatial scales of catchment water balance for land-use management.Read moreRead less