ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1852-8263
Current Organisations
Urban Water Cycle Solutions
,
Australian National University
,
Imperial College London
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In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Civil Engineering | Water And Sanitary Engineering | Microbial Ecology | Natural Resource Management |
Climate variability | Environmental health | Land and water management | Land and water management
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-1995
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 03-2010
DOI: 10.2166/WS.2010.840
Abstract: The traditional use of long-term average consumption records and “peak factors” to determine water network design criteria does not account for allotment-scale diurnal water use patterns which impact upon the dynamics of water distribution systems. The ersity of allotment-scale diurnal water use patterns directly impacts on network dynamics. Demand management and rainwater tanks are likely to impact upon the diurnal patterns of water flows in a water supply network. Results presented in this study suggest that rainwater tanks with mains water trickle top-up produce diurnal “mains water” use patterns different to “household” water use patterns, and when simulated correctly, significantly reduced peak hour “mains water” demand. This outcome impacts upon water supply network design criteria and provided opportunities to offset water infrastructure costs. There is a need to investigate diurnal mains water use patterns resulting from source control measures, such as demand management and rainwater tanks, on peak hour mains water demand in water supply distribution systems and their impact on network design criteria.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2006.01.032
Abstract: The use of harvested rainwater in domestic hot water systems can result in optimised environmental and economic benefits to urban water cycle management, however, the water quality and health risks of such a scenario have not been adequately investigated. Thermal inactivation analyses were carried out on eight species of non-spore-forming bacteria in a water medium at temperatures relevant to domestic hot water systems (55-65 degrees C), and susceptibilities to heat stress were compared using D-values. The D-value was defined as the time required to reduce a bacterial population by 90% or 1 log reduction. The results found that both tested strains of Enterococcus faecalis were the most heat resistant of the bacteria studied, followed by the pathogens Shigella sonnei biotype A and Escherichia coli O157:H7, and the non-pathogenic E. coli O3:H6. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found to be less resistant to heat, while Salmonella typhimurium, Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Aeromonas hydrophila displayed minimal heat resistance capacities. At 65 degrees C, little thermal resistance was demonstrated by any species, with log reductions in concentration occurring within seconds. The results of this study suggested that the temperature range from 55 to 65 degrees C was critical for effective elimination of enteric athogenic bacterial components and supported the thesis that hot water systems should operate at a minimum of 60 degrees C.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2016
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 06-2002
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2005.10.034
Abstract: The microbiological and chemical quality of tank-stored rainwater is impacted directly by roof catchment and subsequent run-off contamination, via direct depositions by birds and small mammals, decay of accumulated organic debris, and atmospheric deposition of airborne micro-organisms and chemical pollutants. Previous literature reports on roof water quality have given little consideration to the relative significance of airborne micro-organisms. This study involved analyses of direct roof run-off at an urban housing development in Newcastle, on the east coast of Australia. A total of 77 s les were collected during 11 separate rainfall events, and microbial counts and mean concentrations of several ionic contaminants were matched to climatic data corresponding to each of the monitored events. Conditions both antecedent to, and those prevailing during each event, were examined to investigate the influence of certain meteorological parameters on the bacterial composition of the roof water and indirectly assess the relative contribution of airborne micro-organisms to the total bacterial load. Results indicated that airborne micro-organisms represented a significant contribution to the bacterial load of roof water at this site, and that the overall contaminant load was influenced by wind velocities, while the profile (composition) of the load varied with wind direction. The implications of these findings to the issues of tank water quality and health risk analysis, appropriate usage and system design are discussed.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2010.07.002
Abstract: Entry of contaminants, such as metals and non-metals, into rainwater harvesting systems can occur directly from rainfall with contributions from collection surfaces, accumulated debris and leachate from storage systems, pipes and taps. Ten rainwater harvesting systems on the east coast of Australia were selected for s ling of roof runoff, storage systems and tap outlets to investigate the variations in rainwater composition as it moved throughout the system, and to identify potential points of contribution to elemental loads. A total of 26 elements were screened at each site. Iron was the only element which was present in significantly higher concentrations in roof runoff s les compared with tank tap s les (P<0.05). At one case study site, results suggested that piping and tap material can contribute to contaminant loads of harvested rainwater. Increased loads of copper were observed in hot tap s les supplied by the rainwater harvesting system via copper piping and a storage hot water system (P<0.05). Similarly, zinc, lead, arsenic, strontium and molybdenum were significantly elevated in s les collected from a polyvinyl chloride pipe s ling point that does not supply household uses, compared with corresponding roof runoff s les (P<0.05). Elemental composition was also found to vary significantly between the tank tap and an internal cold tap at one of the sites investigated, with several elements fluctuating significantly between the two outlets of interest at this site, including potassium, zinc, manganese, barium, copper, vanadium, chromium and arsenic. These results highlighted the variability in the elemental composition of collected rainwater between different study sites and between different s ling points. Atmospheric deposition was not a major contributor to the rainwater contaminant load at the sites tested. Piping materials, however, were shown to contribute significantly to the total elemental load at some locations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2002
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2018
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 02-2007
DOI: 10.2166/WST.2007.115
Abstract: Perceptions of the quality of roof harvested rainwater remain an impediment to widespread implementation of rainwater tanks on urban allotments. Previous literature reports on roof water quality have given little consideration to the relative significance of airborne environmental micro-organisms to roof catchment contamination and the issue of tank water quality. This paper outlines the findings of a recent study into the influence of weather on roof water contamination conducted at an urban housing development in Newcastle, on the east coast of Australia. S les of direct roof run-off were collected during a number of separate rainfall events, and microbial counts were matched to climatic data corresponding to each of the monitored events. Roof run-off contamination was found to be under the strong influence of both wind speed and direction. The preliminary findings of an investigation currently under way into the microbial ersity of rainwater harvesting systems have also been presented. The results indicate that the composition of organisms present varied considerably from source to source and throughout the collection system. In all cases, evidence of faecal contamination was found to be negligible. The implications of these findings to the issues of tank water quality, health risk analysis and monitoring protocols have been discussed.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2009
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2009.06.009
Abstract: The concept that domestic rainwater storage tanks may host sustainable microbial ecosystems has not previously been addressed. The bacterial ersity, cultivated from more than 80 s les from 22 tanks at various locations across eastern Australia, is presented here as prima facie evidence for the potential operation of a functional micro-ecology within rainwater storage systems. Cultivated isolates were found to comprise members of four major bacterial isions Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes, including more than 200 species from 80 different genera. The pattern of abundance distribution was typical of that observed in most natural communities, comprising a small number of abundant taxa and a multitude of rare taxa, while the specific composition resembled that previously described in a number of natural aquatic systems. Although Proteobacteria from alpha, beta and gamma sub-classes were dominant, a set of core taxa comprising representative genera from all four phyla could be identified. Coliform and other species specifically associated with faecal material comprised <15% of the species identified, and represented <1.5% of total average abundance. The composition of the cultivated populations and scope of ersity present, suggested that rainwater tanks may support functional ecosystems comprising complex communities of environmental bacteria, which may have beneficial implications for the quality of harvested rainwater.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2006
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2014
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2006
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1039/B904042K
Abstract: Microbial properties of harvested rainwater were assessed at two study sites at Newcastle on the east coast of Australia. The investigation monitored daily counts of heterotrophic bacteria (HPC), total coliforms and E. coli during a mid-winter month (July). Immediately after a major rainfall event, increases in bacterial loads were observed at both sites, followed by gradual reductions in numbers to prior baseline levels within 7 days. Baseline HPC levels ranged from 500-1000 cfu/mL for the sites evaluated, and the loads following rain peaked at 3590-6690 cfu/mL. Baseline levels of total coliforms ranged from 0-100 cfu/100 mL and peaked at 480-1200 cfu/100 mL following rain. At Site 1, there was no evidence of E. coli loading associated with the rain events assessed, and Site 2 had no detectable E.coli colonies at baseline, with a peak load of 17 cfu/100 mL following rain which again diminished to baseline levels. It was concluded that rainfall events contributed to the bacterial load in rainwater storage systems, but processes within the rainwater storage ensured these incoming loads were not sustained.
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 11-2005
Abstract: Integrated urban water cycle management presents a new framework in which solutions to the provision of urban water services can be sought. It enables new and innovative solutions currently constrained by the existing urban water paradigm to be implemented. This paper introduces the UrbanCycle model. The model is being developed in response to the growing and changing needs of the water management sector and in light of the need for tools to evaluate integrated watercycle management approaches. The key concepts underpinning the UrbanCycle model are the adoption of continuous simulation, hierarchical network modelling, and the careful management of computational complexity. The paper reports on the integration of modelling capabilities across the allotment, and sub ision scales, enabling the interactions between these scales to be explored. A case study illustrates the impacts of various mitigation measures possible under an integrated water management framework. The temporal distribution of runoff into ephemeral streams from a residential allotment in Western Sydney is evaluated and linked to the geomorphic and ecological regimes in receiving waters.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 28-04-2020
DOI: 10.3390/EN13092135
Abstract: The Gordon-Ng models are tools that have been used to estimate and evaluate the performance of various types of chillers for several years. A 550 TR centrifugal chiller plant facility was available to collect data from July and September 2018. The authors propose rearranging variables of the traditional (GNU) model based on average electric consumption and through a thermodynamic analysis comparable to the original model. Furthermore, assumptions are validated. Then, by estimation of the parameters of the new model using least square fitting with field training data and comparing to the GNU model and Braun model (based on consumption), it was shown that the proposed model provides a better prediction in order to evaluate consumption of a centrifugal chiller in regular operation, by improving the coefficient of variation (CV), CV = 3.24% and R2 = 92.52% for a filtered sub-data. Through an algorithm built from steady-state cycle analysis, physical parameters (Sgen, Qleak,eq, R) were estimated to compare with the same parameters obtained by regression to check the influence of the interception term in the model. It was found that without an interception term, the estimated parameters achieve relative errors (ER) below 20%. Additional comparison between external and internal power prediction is shown, with CV = 3.57 % and mean relative error (MRE) of 2.7%, achieving better accuracy than GNU and Braun model.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2008
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2008
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2008
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 02-2007
DOI: 10.2166/WST.2007.102
Abstract: The use of domestic rainwater tanks with back up from mains water supplies in urban areas can produce considerable reductions in mains water demands and stormwater runoff. It is commonplace to analyse the performance of rainwater tanks using continuous simulation with daily time steps and average water use assumptions. This paper compares this simplistic analysis to more detailed analysis that employs 6 minute time steps and climate dependent water demand. The use of daily time steps produced considerable under-estimation of annual rainwater yields that were dependent on tank size, rain depth, seasonal distribution of rainfall, water demand and tank configuration. It is shown that analysis of the performance of rainwater tanks is critically dependent on detailed inputs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2007.02.050
Abstract: Water s les from sites potentially impacted by septic tanks, cattle, sewage treatment plant (STP) and natural forests were collected at regular monthly intervals and within 48 h of rainfall events between October 2004 and June 2006. All s les (n=296) were analysed for faecal coliforms and faecal sterols including coprostanol, epicoprostanol, cholestanol, cholesterol and 24-ethylcoprostanol. Faecal sterol ratios were used to assign human and/or herbivore contamination sources and to estimate their percentage relative contributions in water s les. The catchments had significantly different profiles of designated contamination origins (p<0.05), which were consistent with land use patterns. The STP impacted site had the highest incidence of human contamination assignations and the highest mean levels of coprostanol, whilst the forested site had the highest incidence of uncontaminated s les and the lowest mean concentration of coprostanol. Coprostanol concentrations were not always correlated with faecal coliform counts.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2007.02.052
Abstract: In this study, 12 catchments sites located along the north coast of New South Wales in Australia were grouped into the four categories of septic, cattle, sewage treatment plant (STP) and forested sites via cluster analysis based on their land use patterns. Water s les from all these sites were collected between October 2004 and June 2006 at a regular monthly interval and within 48 h of rain events. The s les were analyzed for bacterial counts including faecal coliform and total coliform faecal sterols including coprostanol, epicoprostanol, cholesterol, cholestanol, 24-ethylcoprostanol, c esterol, stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol and the elements including Na, Rb, Sr, Ag, Cd, Sn, Cs, Ba, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, U, Mg, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, K, As, Se, P and Mo. Over the course of the s ling period, the STP site had the highest average coprostanol level of 1693+/-567 ng/L which was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the septic sites (190+/-71 ng/L), the cattle sites (163+/-94 ng/L) and forested sites (14+/-4 ng/L). As expected, the forested sites had significantly lower average level of faecal coliforms (373+/-87 cfu/100 mL) compared with the STP (1395+/-574 cfu/100 mL), septic (1243+/-494 cfu/100 mL) and cattle sites (535+/-112 cfu/100 mL). The concentrations of coprostanol were not correlated with the numbers of faecal coliform bacteria when the entire data set was evaluated. The forested sites generally had the lowest average levels of elemental compositions, with significantly lower levels noted for Na, U, Mg, V, Cu, Sr, K, As, P and Mo, whereas Fe was the only element notably higher in the forested sites. Temporal and rain events analyses of the data set revealed that elevated levels of both coprostanol and faecal coliforms were not exclusive to rain events. The average coprostanol levels in rain event s les at each site were not significantly different compared with the corresponding dry event s les. Conversely, faecal coliform numbers increased by 2-4 times in rain events s les from septic, cattle and forested sites, but did not alter in the STP site. Multivariate analyses identified coprostanol and Sr as major contributing factors for the discrimination of septic, cattle, STP and forested sites for both rain and dry events s les. It was clear that each land use type of catchment could be characterized by biochemical, bacteriological and elemental parameters.
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.2166/WST.2010.775
Abstract: Chemical qualities of harvested rainwater were assessed at two residential study sites on the east coast of Australia in relation to coastal proximity and surrounding land uses over the course of a winter and summer month. Daily rainwater s les were collected from the base outlet and surface levels of stored water for chemical analyses. High resolution inductively coupled plasma—mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to analyse 26 elements in all s les. The summer s ling regime for the industrial coastal Site 1 was dominated by wind gusts originating from the east with a total average elemental load of 25,900 ± 17,000 μg/L compared to the significantly lower 10,600 ± 3,370 μg/L measured during the winter month, where 84% of wind gust events originated from the west. Data for the inland Site 2, with no proximity to industry, revealed no significant changes in total average loads between the winter (4,870 ± 578 μg/L) and summer (4,760 ± 2,280 μg/L) months. The most abundant elements found at both sites included Na, K, Mg, and Zn. The rainwater storages at Site 2 fed from a relatively new concrete tiled roof catchment had significantly lower pH and conductivity measurements compared with those at Site 1 with an old galvanised iron roof catchment. It was concluded that seasonal differences in harvested water quality were likely influenced by prevailing wind direction and external influences such as surrounding land uses and proximity to the coast.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-08-2006
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2007.04.006
Abstract: Faecal s les from humans, herbivores, carnivores and birds as well as s les from septic tanks and effluents from a sewage treatment plant (STP) were extracted and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for faecal sterols including coprostanol, epicoprostanol, cholestanol, cholesterol, stigmasterol, c esterol, 24-ethylcoprostanol and beta-sitosterol. Coprostanol was observed in the highest concentrations from the human derived s les, but it was also present in substantial quantities in a range of herbivores. There was no unique marker of human faecal contamination. Multivariate analyses revealed that the faecal sterol profiles were significantly different between the four groups of animals (Wilks' lambda=0.007, P<0.002), and coprostanol and 24-ethylcoprostanol were the major discriminant factors. However, when faecal s les were mixed, the confounding of faecal sterol levels prevented accurate identification of contributing species. Conversely, faecal sterol ratios were highly efficient at identifying which mixtures contained human contribution, but could not appropriately determine percentage contributions of sources.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2015
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Start Date: 01-2002
End Date: 01-2006
Amount: $352,388.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 12-2007
End Date: 12-2008
Amount: $335,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity