Microbiology of Urban Water Systems (MUWS)
Marie Curie Host Fellowships For Transfer Of Knowledge (TOK)
Project Overview
December 2006 - December 2010
Urban water systems are important for millions of EU citizens living in urban areas. They have a major impact on their quality of life by preventing serious illness and disease, protecting and enhancing the environment and enabling economic and social development.
A key achievement of the EU has been to ensure the provision of sewerage and water services whilst protecting and enhancing the environment. However, urban water systems throughout Europe face significant new challenges due to the impact of longer-term changes in climate and increases in economic activity.
Urban water systems are a major component of the water cycle and present unique challenges; the systems are large, highly interconnected and dynamic and their overall performance is controlled by the interaction between physical, chemical and biological processes. There is strong evidence to suggest that sewer flow and water quality is strongly influenced by microbiological activity. The Pennine Water Group (PWG) is the leading UK research group with regard to Urban Water Systems, but its scientific expertise is mainly in understanding physical and chemical, rather than microbiological, processes.
Through the recruitment of 3 fellows, each specialising in a different type of microbiological technique and environmental application, the knowledge transfer in this programme will allow the PWG to apply microbiological techniques in the context of urban water environments and to combine this new knowledge with existing field and laboratory-based studies.
The team of TOK fellows will integrate into existing PWG projects so that microbiological issues associated with urban water systems can now be addressed, in particular:
- Develop and apply molecular microbiological techniques for the characterisation and quantification of planktonic and biofilm microbiological communities, including bacteria and pathogens, within water distribution and sewer networks.
- Develop protocols to quantify the impact of these microorganisms, due to their presence, diversity and function on the performance of water distribution and sewer systems in terms of operation, maintenance, risk to public health and environmental impact on other aspects of the water cycle such as natural surface and groundwater.
- Organise and provide training to research staff and postgraduate students of the PWG in their specialized field.
- Participate in curriculum design, development of course materials and course delivery to enhance the teaching and training in undergraduate, postgraduate and industrial training courses provided by PWG members.
Project Staff
Dr Sekar Raju, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Dr Peter Deines, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Henriette Jensen, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Prof Catherine Biggs, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Dr Mark Osborn, formerly Animal & Plant Sciences (now University of Hull)
Prof Joby Boxall, Civil & Structural Engineering
Prof Simon Tait, School of Engineering, Design & Technology
Dr Robert Edyvean, Chemical & Biological Engineering