Dr Frances Slater
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Research Associate
+44 114 222 5732
Full contact details
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Room D106
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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Fran became a Research Associate in drinking water quality and biofilm management in 2019, following the completion of her PhD researching the impact of assimilable organic carbon (AOC) within operational drinking water distribution systems.
Fran has worked on a number of research and industry funded projects which have focused on how to monitor and manage the microbial quality of water from the water treatment works to reaching the customers tap. Fran has continued to explore the relationship between AOC, microbial growth and drinking water quality within drinking water distribution systems.
More recently, Frances led the operation of the full-scale drinking water pipeline test facility at the University of Sheffield, to explore the impact of intermittent water supply on drinking water quality.
Fran is currently working on the research project ‘To Chlorinate, or Not to Chlorinate’ which will, for the first time, study and model the impact of disinfectant residual strategies on biofilms including pathogen sheltering, proliferation and subsequent release.
- Qualifications
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BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences, 2013: Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster.
MSc Sustainable Water Management, 2014: Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster.
EngD, 2019: The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. Department of Civil and Structural Engineering. Thesis entitled: ‘Understanding the Impact of Assimilable Organic Carbon on Biological Stability and Biofilm Development within Drinking Water’.
- Research interests
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- Biofilm monitoring and management
- Drinking water quality -
- Nutrients in drinking water -
- Drinking water distribution systems
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Emerging investigator series: optimisation of drinking water biofilm cell detachment and sample homogenisation methods for rapid quantification via flow cytometry. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. View this article in WRRO
- Non-invasive biofouling monitoring to assess drinking water distribution system performance. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12. View this article in WRRO
- Assimilable Organic Carbon Cycling within Drinking Water Distribution Systems. Water Research, 117147.
- Application of enhanced assimilable organic carbon method across operational drinking water systems. PLOS ONE, 14(12). View this article in WRRO
- Interpretation and application of carbon isotope ratios in freshwater diatom silica. Journal of Quaternary Science, 31(4), 300-309.
- Future Water: A Multi-University International Web Seminar. Water, 16(13), 1862-1862.
Conference proceedings papers
- Drinking Water Biofilm Management and Monitoring
- Development of Assimable Organic Carbon Assey and Field Application within Drinking Water Treatment. WDSA / CCWI Joint Conference 2018, 23 July 2018 - 25 July 2018.
- Modelling the Dynamics of P. aeruginosa in the Formation of Biofilms. The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024), Vol. 261 (pp 141-141)
- Incorporation and Mobilisation of Health-Related Organisms from within Drinking Water Biofilm. The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024), Vol. 214 (pp 115-115)
- Emerging investigator series: optimisation of drinking water biofilm cell detachment and sample homogenisation methods for rapid quantification via flow cytometry. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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Water Distribution Research Group
Sheffield Water Centre