A Fundamental Understanding of Methane Driven Denitrification. Eutrophication in waterways due to the presence of nutrients including nitrogen is a well-recognised environmental problem. Moreton Bay, for example, used to receive 3,300 tons of nitrogen each year from point sources. Stringent nitrogen discharge limits have therefore been imposed on most wastewater treatment systems across Australia. Nitrogen removal from wastewater is commonly accomplished in a biological way involving the use of ....A Fundamental Understanding of Methane Driven Denitrification. Eutrophication in waterways due to the presence of nutrients including nitrogen is a well-recognised environmental problem. Moreton Bay, for example, used to receive 3,300 tons of nitrogen each year from point sources. Stringent nitrogen discharge limits have therefore been imposed on most wastewater treatment systems across Australia. Nitrogen removal from wastewater is commonly accomplished in a biological way involving the use of bacteria. The project aims to investigate a particular bacterial community, which is able to perform nitrogen removal from wastewater with methane as a renewable carbon source. The project will therefore lead to more sustainable wastewater treatment systems.Read moreRead less
Endogenous Processes in Biological Wastewater Treatment Systems. Biomass decay, or endogenous processes play a major role in biological wastewater treatment systems, but are poorly understood at present. Drawing on the expertise of four internationally leading groups in the area, we will carry out a comprehensive and profound study of these processes. The study will yield novel designs and operational strategies for wastewater treatment plants that optimise the microbial populations to achieve l ....Endogenous Processes in Biological Wastewater Treatment Systems. Biomass decay, or endogenous processes play a major role in biological wastewater treatment systems, but are poorly understood at present. Drawing on the expertise of four internationally leading groups in the area, we will carry out a comprehensive and profound study of these processes. The study will yield novel designs and operational strategies for wastewater treatment plants that optimise the microbial populations to achieve lower sludge production and higher treatment capacity and performance. It will also deliver a reliable, yet easy to use, model for endogenous processes. Furthermore, a number of highly skilled PhD students will be trained.Read moreRead less
Understanding Fugitive Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wastewater Systems for Reliable Accounting and Effective Mitigation. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Substantial reductions in emissions must be achieved, with responsibility shared by all industrial sectors. Wastewater systems contribute to GHG emission through not only energy consumption but also direct emissions of fugitive GHG such as methane and nitrous oxide. T ....Understanding Fugitive Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wastewater Systems for Reliable Accounting and Effective Mitigation. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Substantial reductions in emissions must be achieved, with responsibility shared by all industrial sectors. Wastewater systems contribute to GHG emission through not only energy consumption but also direct emissions of fugitive GHG such as methane and nitrous oxide. This project aims to deliver the urgently needed knowledge and technology support to the Australian wastewater industry to achieve reductions in fugitive emissions. The research will also provide support to the greenhouse office via more reliable estimation of such emissions.Read moreRead less
Hydrogen production from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste using a novel membrane. Solid organic waste is a potentially large, decentralized and sustainable source of hydrogen. The potential hydrogen yield from the anaerobic digestion of solid organic waste in Sydney alone could power over 750,000 passenger vehicles. Hydrogen is always generated in the digestion of organic material, but under natural conditions it is scavenged by methanogens. Recently developed silica membranes are sel ....Hydrogen production from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste using a novel membrane. Solid organic waste is a potentially large, decentralized and sustainable source of hydrogen. The potential hydrogen yield from the anaerobic digestion of solid organic waste in Sydney alone could power over 750,000 passenger vehicles. Hydrogen is always generated in the digestion of organic material, but under natural conditions it is scavenged by methanogens. Recently developed silica membranes are selectively and highly permeable to hydrogen, and these can be used to draw hydrogen from the digester. The digester will be run at high temperatures (>65oC) because this favours organisms that produce hydrogen over methanogens. Anaerobic digesters are well established in Europe and at least 3 municipal plants already exist in Australia.Read moreRead less
Toxic metal removal from wastewater sludge. This project aims to efficiently remove toxic metals from wastewater sludge. Sludge management is a problem for water utilities, incurring substantial costs. Land application of wastewater sludge is a sustainable way of sludge management, but toxic metals hinder its long-term repeated application. The project’s chemical-free and energy-positive technology is based on the treatment of wastewater sludge using acidified nitrite. The outcomes will help wat ....Toxic metal removal from wastewater sludge. This project aims to efficiently remove toxic metals from wastewater sludge. Sludge management is a problem for water utilities, incurring substantial costs. Land application of wastewater sludge is a sustainable way of sludge management, but toxic metals hinder its long-term repeated application. The project’s chemical-free and energy-positive technology is based on the treatment of wastewater sludge using acidified nitrite. The outcomes will help water utilities to sustainably manage sludge and could bring large economic, environmental and social benefits to the water utilities.Read moreRead less
Biotransformation and biodegradation of organic nitrogen compounds from wastewater in bio-electrochemical systems. The rapid emergence of water recycling in Australia requires more vigilant control of pollutants that are discharged to sewers. This project will develop a novel, cost-effective process to remove organic nitrogen compounds (and likely other organics) present in many industrial wastewaters. It could provide an excellent solution for the pre-treatment of such industrial wastewaters at ....Biotransformation and biodegradation of organic nitrogen compounds from wastewater in bio-electrochemical systems. The rapid emergence of water recycling in Australia requires more vigilant control of pollutants that are discharged to sewers. This project will develop a novel, cost-effective process to remove organic nitrogen compounds (and likely other organics) present in many industrial wastewaters. It could provide an excellent solution for the pre-treatment of such industrial wastewaters at the source without any chemical addition, hence reducing the challenge and risks facing the water recycling plants. This innovative technology will further expand the growing research capacity and know-how in water recycling in Australia.Read moreRead less
Biofilm control in wastewater systems using free nitrous acid - a renewable material from wastewater. This project will deliver a technology and the underpinning science to deactivate and remove biofilms in wastewater systems using a renewable material that is produced from wastewater at a low cost. The technology has the potential to revolutionise the management of wastewater systems, bringing massive benefits to the water industry.
A landfill cover that generates electricity: a Microbial Fuel Cell application. Landfills account for over two per cent of Australia’s greenhouse emissions, dominating emissions from waste and wastewater. Methane emissions are inherent to landfills because waste cannot be permanently sealed until a landfill cell is full. In this project, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) landfill cover will be developed as a means of achieving full biogas capture, from the time that waste is placed. The MFC cover syst ....A landfill cover that generates electricity: a Microbial Fuel Cell application. Landfills account for over two per cent of Australia’s greenhouse emissions, dominating emissions from waste and wastewater. Methane emissions are inherent to landfills because waste cannot be permanently sealed until a landfill cell is full. In this project, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) landfill cover will be developed as a means of achieving full biogas capture, from the time that waste is placed. The MFC cover system would consist of a relatively thin and deformable granular graphite layer colonised by current generating methane oxidising microorganisms, overlain by a proton exchange membrane and steel mesh as the anode layer. The MFC cover will provide the benefit of power generation as well as more complete greenhouse gas mitigation. Read moreRead less
Micro-managed biofilm - next generation environmental biotechnologies. Eutrophication in waterways due to the presence of nitrogen creates major environmental challenges in inland Australia. This project will develop novel biological nitrogen removal technology, through management of microbial composition to achieve sustainable high-level nitrogen removal from wastewaters and benefical reuse of the water.
Realistic assessment of biomarker transformation in the wastewater system. Wastewater-based epidemiology is an internationally recognised cost-effective tool to monitor population exposure to chemicals and infectious diseases including Covid-19. However, in-sewer degradation of critical biomarkers can limit their wastewater-based epidemiology suitability. This project aims to systematically evaluate the stability of a new suite of potential biomarkers and conduct the first Australia-wide assessm ....Realistic assessment of biomarker transformation in the wastewater system. Wastewater-based epidemiology is an internationally recognised cost-effective tool to monitor population exposure to chemicals and infectious diseases including Covid-19. However, in-sewer degradation of critical biomarkers can limit their wastewater-based epidemiology suitability. This project aims to systematically evaluate the stability of a new suite of potential biomarkers and conduct the first Australia-wide assessment on the impact of biomarker stability on wastewater-based epidemiology estimates using wastewater samples from ~65% of the Australian population. The project expects to generate knowledge to expand the application of wastewater-based epidemiology to reliably quantify exposure and status of well-being even in remote areasRead moreRead less