Supported by:

Project Description

ATWARM will provide its Fellows with scientific training in a range of multidisciplinary skills for water resource management, including development of:

Novel technologies that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of water and wastewater treatment processes, particularly technologies for nutrient and pollutant removal,
Technologies that will secure a paradigm shift from energy intensive wastewater treatment processes to wastewater treatment processes that produce energy,
Technologies that will allow the accurate measurement of emissions from water and wastewater treatment plants and establish the carbon footprint of technology options
Novel technologies for the detection and remediation of pollutants using a new generation of analysis and remote sensing technologies.

S&T training relevant to their specific project will be given to each Fellow throughout the lifetime of the programme by the Host institution. The 7 Hosts have similar research interests and complementary research facilities.

Researchers will also be provided with many opportunities to avail of complementary skills training - such as Project Management, Good Research Practice, Presentation Skills, Writing Research Papers, as well as training in IPR Management and Business Skills.

The list of ATWARM research projects is available here:

Project, Fellow	Project Title	Measurable & Verifiable Objective
2.1, ESR	Non-thermal plasmas created by corona-like discharges for eliminating recalcitrant organic contaminants (IWW)	To demonstrate the operation of a non-thermal plasma reactor for the removal of organic contaminants from water and wastewater.
2.2, ESR	Development of novel integrated photocatalytic adsorbents (IPAs) for organics removal from water & wastewater (DCU)	To develop novel materials with dual absorbent and photocatalytic function.
2.3, ESR	Phosphorus removal & recovery from wastewater (QUB)	To investigate the physiological and biochemical basis of the novel stress induced phosphate uptake and polyphosphate accumulation by microorganisms.
2.4, ESR	Nutrient removal in wastewater using algae & fibre optics as a source of light (UDE)	To test an innovative fibre-optic technology for light delivery enabling algal growth within a reactor.
2.5, ESR	Priority substances in activated sludge: incidence, accumulation, source tracking emitter identification & prevention strategies (UDE)	To deliver an improved understanding of the sorption and desorption properties of priority substances in sewage sludge and biofilms.
2.6, ESR	Integrated process for biogas production from algal biomass (CRA)	To determine the influence of algal species on the performance of nutrient uptake and biogas production in the anaerobic digestion process.
2.7, ESR	Delivering low carbon anaerobic wastewater treatment and renewable energy production (CRA)	To assess reactor stability and treatment effectiveness of the anaerobic digestion process – methane generation, effluent quality, nutrient removal and treatability, and removal of hazardous substances.
2.8, ER	Design and introduction of a carbon accounting system to Northern Ireland Water (NIW)	To provide a better understanding of the technicalities of carbon management in the water industry.
3.1, ESR	Fast on-site monitoring of gasoline-related compounds at contaminated sites using differential mobility spectrometry (IWW)	To incorporate microextraction methods for enrichment of target analytes into ion mobility spectrometry.
3.2, ESR	Development of rapid technologies for the assessment of biodegradation potential in contaminated groundwater using gene array technologies (QUB)	To develop an array for key biodegradative genes and trial data using test samples.
3.3, ER	To further develop and improve existing Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) methods which can be validated to ISO17025 with improved detection limits in the range C9-C40 (TEL)	To develop an improved method for TPH detection, with the ability to produce consistent reproducible results to a low detection limit.
3.4, ESR	Arsenic removal from water using dolomites and modified dolomites (QUB)	To investigate the mechanisms and kinetics for the removal of arsenic from industrial wastewaters by dolomite.
3.5, ESR	Long-term deployment of a faecal matter sensor in a marine & freshwater environment (DCU)	To assess the robustness in the field of an in situ fibre optic biosensor.
3.6, ESR	Assessment & usefulness of integrating stable isotope data and data on pharmaceuticals to disentangle point & diffuse sources of pollution (DCU, QUB)	To investigate the origin and fate of nitrate in a complex multi-land use watershed.
3.7, ESR	Next generation autonomous analytical platforms for remote environmental monitoring. Project 1: Microfluidic platforms incorporating stimulus-responsive materials for Water Quality (DCU)	To synthesise and characterise innovative biomimetic materials capable of actuation under photonic or electrochemical stimulation.
3.8, ESR	Next generation autonomous analytical platforms for remote environmental monitoring. Project 2: Generation of fully functioning biomimetic analytical platforms for Water Quality (DCU):	To integrate photo-electro-actuators developed in project 3.7 into a microfluidic platform and demonstrate its application.