Optimal Source Control in Urban Water Cycle Management. Major opportunities exist to improve the management of the urban water cycle by better use of source control technology such as the use of rainwater tanks and water-sensitive design. This program will optimise the use of this technology at three scales, allotment, subdivision and regional, using genetic algorithms, parallel computing and shadow pricing. The aim is to minimise community lifecycle costs subject to sustainable use of ecosystem ....Optimal Source Control in Urban Water Cycle Management. Major opportunities exist to improve the management of the urban water cycle by better use of source control technology such as the use of rainwater tanks and water-sensitive design. This program will optimise the use of this technology at three scales, allotment, subdivision and regional, using genetic algorithms, parallel computing and shadow pricing. The aim is to minimise community lifecycle costs subject to sustainable use of ecosystems and maintenance of public health standards. The benefits include national savings of the order of $2 billion and significantly reduced demand on water supply and stormwater infrastructure and its supporting ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Modelling long-term hydrological persistence using hidden state Markov models. Long-term climatic persistence has a pronounced effect on engineering risk assessment of drought and flood severity. Accurate risk assessment is essential for economic design of water resource and flood defence infrastructure. A new, physically realistic, framework for stochastic modelling of persistence is developed, in which the probability distributions of hydrological variables depend on underlying climatic states ....Modelling long-term hydrological persistence using hidden state Markov models. Long-term climatic persistence has a pronounced effect on engineering risk assessment of drought and flood severity. Accurate risk assessment is essential for economic design of water resource and flood defence infrastructure. A new, physically realistic, framework for stochastic modelling of persistence is developed, in which the probability distributions of hydrological variables depend on underlying climatic states. These states are not directly observable, and occasionally change in a random manner. The research program, involving three PhD projects, will develop: estimation techniques and software using climate indices and multi-site data; a new approach to flood risk regionalisation; and seasonal rainfall forecasting methods.Read moreRead less
The Development of a Model for Confined Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Stormwater Filtration/Infiltration Systems for Australian Conditions. There is an increasing strain on scarce Australian water supplies and this requires effective water cycle management and protection of water resources as a whole. The proposed research aims to develop a model for the effective management of stormwater runoff through the investigation of confined filtration and infiltration devices in four separate loca ....The Development of a Model for Confined Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Stormwater Filtration/Infiltration Systems for Australian Conditions. There is an increasing strain on scarce Australian water supplies and this requires effective water cycle management and protection of water resources as a whole. The proposed research aims to develop a model for the effective management of stormwater runoff through the investigation of confined filtration and infiltration devices in four separate locations. These confined systems will minimise the impacts of pollutant concentrations on native soils and groundwater. A model will be developed to predict required native soil permeabilities and residence times for adequate tertiary treatment in a variety of Australian conditions for non-potable reuse of runoff and/or groundwater recharge.Read moreRead less
Characterisation and Treatment of Reverse Osmosis Concentrates from Water Recycling Applications. Concentrates from reverse osmosis (RO) pose a considerable threat to both the environment but also the successful implementation of reverse osmosis as a technology. Naturally, the concentrate contains everything that the RO retains and hence contaminants such as viruses, organics such as pharmaceutically active compounds and hormones as well as nutrients and salinity. Treatment of such waste streams ....Characterisation and Treatment of Reverse Osmosis Concentrates from Water Recycling Applications. Concentrates from reverse osmosis (RO) pose a considerable threat to both the environment but also the successful implementation of reverse osmosis as a technology. Naturally, the concentrate contains everything that the RO retains and hence contaminants such as viruses, organics such as pharmaceutically active compounds and hormones as well as nutrients and salinity. Treatment of such waste streams will enhance the health of receiving water bodies and reduce the risk of increased build up of contaminants if wastes are recycled into wastewater treatment plants. New ways to treat such contaminants will be explored, the efficiency and cost evaluated in the broader water cycle and sustainability framework.Read moreRead less
Supported biomass membrane bioreactor: optimisation of aeration for better fouling control. This project will lead to a sustainable, affordable, energy-efficient treatment system for water reuse. The technology developed will particularly benefit small sewage treatment plants in coastal and isolated communities in Australia, by maximising the utilisation of water resources where water is limited, and by reducing the environmental impact of waste discharges. This project will also strengthen rese ....Supported biomass membrane bioreactor: optimisation of aeration for better fouling control. This project will lead to a sustainable, affordable, energy-efficient treatment system for water reuse. The technology developed will particularly benefit small sewage treatment plants in coastal and isolated communities in Australia, by maximising the utilisation of water resources where water is limited, and by reducing the environmental impact of waste discharges. This project will also strengthen research links between Australian and European institutions through the development of this innovative technology. Local water industries will directly benefit from this frontier research.Read moreRead less
Membranes coupled with physico-chemcial treatment in water reuse: New hybrid systems development and fouling assessment. This project will be useful to sewage treatment systems prevalent in the coastal areas of NSW and Queensland and the interior parts of Northern Territory with isolated communities. Membrane processes are a sustainable technology in wastewater treatment for reuse. The novel pre-treatment and fouling assessment protocol proposed in this study are the keys for the cost-effective ....Membranes coupled with physico-chemcial treatment in water reuse: New hybrid systems development and fouling assessment. This project will be useful to sewage treatment systems prevalent in the coastal areas of NSW and Queensland and the interior parts of Northern Territory with isolated communities. Membrane processes are a sustainable technology in wastewater treatment for reuse. The novel pre-treatment and fouling assessment protocol proposed in this study are the keys for the cost-effective and energy-efficient operation and testing of membrane processes. This project will strengthen research links between Australian and European universities, through the development of an innovative pre-treatment technology. The technology is of direct benefit to reuse applications in Australia and has significant export potential.Read moreRead less
Recycling water and nutrients using a high-rate membrane bioreactor coupled with an ion-exchange system. Australia urgently needs to recycle both water and nutrients to protect its rivers and sustain its agriculture. This project will yield a sustainable, energy-efficient treatment system for water reuse and nutrient recovery. The technology's greater economy and efficiency will benefit decentralised systems in urban centres and small sewage treatment plants in isolated communities alike by en ....Recycling water and nutrients using a high-rate membrane bioreactor coupled with an ion-exchange system. Australia urgently needs to recycle both water and nutrients to protect its rivers and sustain its agriculture. This project will yield a sustainable, energy-efficient treatment system for water reuse and nutrient recovery. The technology's greater economy and efficiency will benefit decentralised systems in urban centres and small sewage treatment plants in isolated communities alike by enabling greater water reuse and by reducing the environmental impact of waste discharges. It will be of immediate benefit to the Australian water industry and to exports. This project will strengthen links in water science between Australian and European institutions.Read moreRead less
Innovative strategy for salt management and water recovery from newsprint mill effluent using membrane processes. Newsprint mills are a major employer in regional Australia. The mills are located in environmentally sensitive areas, consume large quantities of water and return high levels of salt to the environment. To remain competitive the newsprint industry, like all industries in regional Australia must develop new strategies for water recycling and salt management. Successful execution of t ....Innovative strategy for salt management and water recovery from newsprint mill effluent using membrane processes. Newsprint mills are a major employer in regional Australia. The mills are located in environmentally sensitive areas, consume large quantities of water and return high levels of salt to the environment. To remain competitive the newsprint industry, like all industries in regional Australia must develop new strategies for water recycling and salt management. Successful execution of this project will minimize water consumption in newsprint production, mitigate the effects of increased sodicity in soils irrigated with mill effluent and accelerate the commercial development a hydrophobic microporous membrane for water recycling and salt removal in environmentally sensitive areas of inland Australia.Read moreRead less
Cost effective in-line filtration system to improve water quality in rainwater tanks. This research will provide the basis for developing an affordable and innovative water treatment solution for domestic rainwater collection systems. The main elements of this research are:
. Provision of a cost -effective submerged membrane operated under gravity to provide water of potable standard.
. Establishing an adaptive membrane cleaning system using the concept of volume control.
. Characterisati ....Cost effective in-line filtration system to improve water quality in rainwater tanks. This research will provide the basis for developing an affordable and innovative water treatment solution for domestic rainwater collection systems. The main elements of this research are:
. Provision of a cost -effective submerged membrane operated under gravity to provide water of potable standard.
. Establishing an adaptive membrane cleaning system using the concept of volume control.
. Characterisation protocol of membrane fouling and stored rain water.
. Sizing of a permeate tank for storing treated water through demand management.
This project will increase the use of rainwater tanks, helping available water resources to go further.Read moreRead less
Cost effective treatment system for stormwater harvesting for medium scale developments. Stormwater harvesting is central to the integrated water cycle management approach now being formally endorsed by all tiers of governments as the best way to manage our water resources. Despite its immense potential, stormwater harvesting in urban centres throughout Australia is largely limited to household rainwater tanks. By developing economical and efficient treatment systems suitable for medium density ....Cost effective treatment system for stormwater harvesting for medium scale developments. Stormwater harvesting is central to the integrated water cycle management approach now being formally endorsed by all tiers of governments as the best way to manage our water resources. Despite its immense potential, stormwater harvesting in urban centres throughout Australia is largely limited to household rainwater tanks. By developing economical and efficient treatment systems suitable for medium density developments, this project will maximise the resource value of stormwater, and reduce demand on water supply systems. The project will lead to the development of medium sized communities within larger urban centres that maximises its use of stormwater for water needs.Read moreRead less