Erosion of embankment dams and dam spillways. In excess of $250M is spent annually to maintain, upgrade, improve safety and monitor performance of Australian dams. Improved methods for assessing both spillway and internal erosion, the cause of 50 per cent of embankment dam failures and incidents requiring repairs, will be developed, maximising dam safety and minimising maintenance expenditure.
Optimum design of hydraulic structures in rural and urban Australia: dealing with floods and droughts. Australia's long-term forecast suggests the occurrence of longer and more frequent droughts, and more intense flood events. The project will study the fundamental hydrodynamic processes in hydraulic structures and aims to develop new innovative designs derived from process based approach for optimum operation in rural and urban Australia.
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
A study of turbulence and influence of anthropogenic inputs in small subtropical estuaries. This project aims to improve our basic understanding of mixing and dispersion processes in small subtropical estuaries, and to develop improved predictive models to assist with the management of natural ecosystems. This will be the first comprehensive study of mixing processes and the influence of anthropogenic inputs in small subtropical estuaries.
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
Adapting catchment monitoring and potable water treatment to climate change. Adapting catchment monitoring and potable water treatment to climate change. This project aims to make the water industry capable of foreseeing and managing adverse raw water organic matter quality from the catchment to the treatment plant. It will research the triggers for organic matter excursions that compromise treatment plant performance and affect public health. The project will develop and deploy innovative senso ....Adapting catchment monitoring and potable water treatment to climate change. Adapting catchment monitoring and potable water treatment to climate change. This project aims to make the water industry capable of foreseeing and managing adverse raw water organic matter quality from the catchment to the treatment plant. It will research the triggers for organic matter excursions that compromise treatment plant performance and affect public health. The project will develop and deploy innovative sensors to detect targeted water quality changes at the molecular level in situ and real time, and improve operating strategies for robust and reliable performance of existing treatment plants. This catchment to plant approach is expected to make existing treatment assets more productive and defer additional treatment costs.Read moreRead less
Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of Water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change. Water is precious, and increasingly scarce. Many Australians – householders, businesses, farmers, those concerned about sustainability and the environment, among others – have diverse preferences about water allocation. Yet the operating rules that water supply system managers currently use were designed when water was comparatively plentiful. This project will assist system managers to develop contemporary ....Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of Water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change. Water is precious, and increasingly scarce. Many Australians – householders, businesses, farmers, those concerned about sustainability and the environment, among others – have diverse preferences about water allocation. Yet the operating rules that water supply system managers currently use were designed when water was comparatively plentiful. This project will assist system managers to develop contemporary rules for water allocation decision-making. A case study of the Grampians headworks system in Victoria will provide the opportunity to trial methods that account for diverse stakeholder preferences in the context of climate change and climate variability, including drought events. Read moreRead less
Combining transient micro-reflections and multi-sensor arrays for condition assessment of buried pipes. This project will develop an accurate and reliable approach for assessing the condition of pipelines. This new approach will reduce costs and save considerable amounts of water each year, as it will assist utilities in preventing major failures such as pipe bursts, and performing strategically targeted maintenance, replacement and rehabilitation.
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
Cost Effective Pipeline Condition Assessment Using Paired Pressure Sensor Arrays. Water distribution networks represent society's most important infrastructure asset. They are buried pipes and are often old and deteriorating. Cost-effective methods to assess their physical condition are urgently needed. This research will develop a novel and advanced approach to determine the interior condition of pipes quickly and effectively using small water hammer pulses or waves. Paired pressure sensor arra ....Cost Effective Pipeline Condition Assessment Using Paired Pressure Sensor Arrays. Water distribution networks represent society's most important infrastructure asset. They are buried pipes and are often old and deteriorating. Cost-effective methods to assess their physical condition are urgently needed. This research will develop a novel and advanced approach to determine the interior condition of pipes quickly and effectively using small water hammer pulses or waves. Paired pressure sensor arrays will be used to measure reflections of the waves in pipes and these methods will enable finer resolution and identification of pipeline faults, such as wall thickness loss and leakage while at the same time allowing operational continuity. The outcome will be powerful tools to more cost effectively manage these crucial assets.Read moreRead less