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Annual Report 2010
Contents
Executive Dean’s Message 01
Director’s Report 02
2010 Achievements 04
Funding Achievements 05
Partnerships & Commercial Activities 06
Analytical Research & Services 08
Research Programs 11Water Recycling 12(Bio)Electrochemical Systems 14Greenhouse Gases 16Microbial Ecology 18Sewer Corrosion & Odour Research (SCORe) 20Bioproducts & Nutrient Removal 22Anaerobic Technologies 24
The AWMC Team 26
International Visitors 33
Financial Report 34
2010 Active Research Grants 35
2010 Publications 38
Conference Participation 43
2010 Seminars 44
Executive Dean’sMessage
The Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC) was established in 1996, a time when the challenge for the global water industry was focused on the protection of waterways and reduction of nutrients in the environment. The AWMC met this challenge and led the world in nutrient removal, innovative processes and process control of wastewater treatment plants. The impact of this early research is still being applied today by water authorities, both nationally and internationally, and local agro-industries.
Today the AWMC still shows great relevance to the global water industry. This is exemplified by the number of direct collaborators and partners, which include industry, Australian Government bodies (federal, state and local), associations and research institutes.
Excellence underpins all of the AWMC activities. The AWMC research program has changed the way many authorities view their treatment processes and infrastructure. Recently, the AWMC has challenged the way the industry views greenhouse gas emissions, the impact and footprint of treatment systems, nutrient recovery, by-products from waste, and the way the industry can protect and restore our water resources and critical infrastructure.
As the Chair of the AWMC Advisory Board it is my pleasure to introduce the 2010 annual report. It has been another successful and rewarding year for the AWMC team, which promises a future of exciting developments.
Professor Graham Schaffer Executive Dean Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
“The Advanced Water Management Centre is an internationally recognised
centre of excellence in water research and innovation.”
AWMC Annual Report 2010 1
Intro
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2 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Water does not seem to get out of the headlines – at least not in Australia. If it’s not droughts, then it’s floods, water recycling, desalination plants, water quality, water for the environment, or something else water related! It certainly keeps us busy at the AWMC and continuously poses interesting new challenges.
Looking through this latest summary of our activities, you will notice that we have been very productive across a broad range of topics in the last year. Depending on existing and emerging needs, we adapt our research activities regularly as illustrated for example by the fact that our ‘clean water’ research field has expanded from water recycling to include storm water and drinking water related topics, such as disinfection by-products. At the same time, other ‘hot topics’ such as greenhouse gas emissions, sewer odour and corrosion management, and anaerobic technologies are also performing strongly. We continue to extend our fundamental understanding in both the microbial science and environmental biotechnology areas with the aim to develop the next generation of technologies. These include novel nutrient removal and recovery concepts, biofilm control methods and bioelectrochemical processes, which are now being used in such diverse applications as sulfide reduction in sewers or ferric and phosphate recovery from water recycling sludges.
Our outstanding performance over the last few years has been strongly recognised in 2010. Within The University of Queensland, the AWMC has been recognised in the top tier in terms of our overall research performance in the ‘Institute Based Performance Framework’ assessment. The nation-wide research quality assessment, called Excellence of Research for Australia (ERA), was also very positive for the centre. In the AWMC fields of research, ‘Environmental Biotechnology’ and ‘Environmental Engineering’, UQ’s ranking was in the top category nationally, considered to be ‘well above world standard’. These rankings solidify the AWMC’s position as a world leading water management and research centre.
In November 2010 we had a formal, external review of our overall operations, which concluded that our activity and performance was ‘highly commendable’. Most pleasing was the extremely strong support provided by a range of industry representatives who were interviewed by the review panel. Given the quality of the expert panel, the outcome is particularly valuable and the set of recommendations will help in further improving our operations and overall position within UQ. The recommendations, on a revised funding model, improved accommodation situation and the possible change of the Centre category and status, help to make our long-term future look brighter than ever.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our industry partners and research collaborators, in Australia and internationally, for their ongoing support of our research activities. It is this close engagement with colleagues and partners from industry and academia that help us achieve strong results, which provide direct, mutual benefits to their organisations. And last but not least, my biggest thanks and recognition go to all of our staff and students who are ultimately responsible for achieving such exceptional research outcomes, through their tireless dedication and outstanding commitment to excellence and relevance. This report highlights just some of their achievements over the last year.
I trust you will enjoy reading this report and hope that it will inspire you to get in touch with us or to further continue our valuable collaboration in the future.
Director Professor Jurg Keller
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our industry partners and research collaborators that help us achieve strong outcomes and results”
Director’s Report
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AWMC Annual Report 2010 3
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2010 Achievements
• The AWMC was one of three finalists chosen for the 2010 Eureka Award in the category of ‘Research and Innovation’ for water research and innovation as a centre.
• In the UQ ‘Institute Based Performance Framework’ the AWMC was ranked in the top 3 of more than 60% of key performance indicators. The AMWC excelled in the three categories of Esteem, Impact and Operational Excellence outperforming larger University institutes.
• Dr Florent Angly’s co-authorship on the work titled ‘Viruses in the faecal microbiota of monozygotic twins and their mothers’ was published in the highly prestigious journal “Nature”. For this work Dr Angly was also awarded a Faculty of Engineering Architecture and Information Technology (EAIT) Impact Award.
• Prof Zhiguo Yuan was awarded an EAIT Research Higher Degree Supervision Excellence award and a UQ Graduate School Award for Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision, in recognition of his outstanding mentoring achievements over many years.
• Prof Zhiguo Yuan and Prof Jurg Keller were appointed Fellows by the International Water Association. They were part of an inaugural group of 34 people chosen worldwide, and two of the four Australians selected.
• Dr Maria José Farré was appointed as a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina for 3 years in collaboration with A/Prof Howard Weinberg.
• Dr Paritam Dutta, AWMC PhD graduate, won first prize in the Huber Technology Prize 2010: Future Water, for his proposal on the “Electrochemical Removal and Recovery of Sulfide from Wastewater: Microbial Interactions and Process Development”.
• Mr Steven Kenway, PhD Student, was awarded a 2010 Fullbright Scholarship which has taken him to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories and the University of California, Berkeley, to research linkages between water use, energy and greenhouse gas.
• Mrs Vivienne Clayton was awarded a 2010 Miracle Worker Award for ongoing support and dedication to AWMC activities.
• At the 2010 EAIT Faculty Professional Staff Awards, Mrs Wendy Mahon was awarded the Leadership Prize, Mrs Hong Lee the prize for consistent performance and Mrs Vivienne Clayton the Customer Service award.
• Mr Jeremy Barr, PhD student, had his image selected for the front cover of the November issue of ‘Applied and Environmental Microbiology’.
• Mr Ilje Pikaar, PhD student, won the “Student Highly Recommended” award at the 2010 Trailblazer competition.
• Mr Mohamed (Fauzi) Haroon, PhD student, won the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) Microbe Image 2010.
• Dr Liu Ye was awarded third prize in the 2010 Organo Water Prize in China. The prize is funded by Japanese Organo company and awarded to the most outstanding Chinese graduate in water related majors.
• Dr Oriol Gutierrez was presented with the ‘Highly Commended’ award for a Young Water Professional at the 6th International IWA conference on Sewer Processes and Networks, 7-10 November 2010, Surfers Paradise, Australia.
• A/Prof Damien Batstone was presented with an EAIT Faculty Teaching Award for his service to the Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Degree.
• Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr René Rozendal published a strategic review on Microbial Electrosynthesis in Nature Reviews Microbiology. The manuscript made the journal’s cover for the October 2010 edition.
• The project “Bio-electrochemically upgrading CO2 and H2S fractions of biogas: Increasing the efficiency and adding value to Anaerobic Digestion technology”, led by Dr Shelley Brown, was awarded the 2010 Lettinga Award. This prize recognises innovative projects in the field of anaerobic technology for waste and wastewater treatment aiming at cleaner production or recycling, sustainable development and/or resource conservation.
Dr Florent Angly with his work titled ‘Viruses in the faecal microbiota of monozygotic twins and their mothers’, published in the highly prestigious journal, Nature.
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ARC Discovery Projects• “Novel concepts for bioelectrochemical generation
of renewable fuels and chemicals from wastewater” - Prof Jurg Keller, Dr René Rozendal with partners from UQ, Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Technische Universität Braunschweig (Germany) and Twente University (The Netherlands)
ARC Linkage Grants• “Fate of micropollutants in water recycling: Influence
of dissolved organic matter” - Dr Wolfgang Gernjak with partners from EnTox, University of NSW, Colorado School of Mines (USA), WaterSecure and Veolia Water Australia
• “Coals as methane bioreactors: Significance of microbial methane generation in coal seams for coal seam gas (CSG) production and carbon dioxide (CO2) geosequestration” - Dr Gene Tyson with partners from UQ and Colorado School of Mines (USA)
• “Iron and phosphorus recovery from ferric precipitation sludge” - Prof Jurg Keller, Dr René Rozendal, and Dr Korneel Rabaey, with partners from Veolia Water Australia and WaterSecure
UQ Early Career Research Grant Scheme• “Detection of biofoulants based on functionalised
micro-cantilevers” - Dr Bogdan Donose• “Reductive electrochemical remediation of persistent
organic pollutants (POPs) using quinone mediators” - Dr Jelena Radjenovic
• “Application of Raman spectroscopy to the study of extracellular electron transfer (EET) in engineered systems” - Dr Bernardino Virdis
• “A novel method for reducing sludge production in biological wastewater treatment plants” - Dr Liu Ye
UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Dr Bing-Jie Ni was awarded the highly competitive UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship.
UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund “Impact of oxygen on methane production in sewer systems” - Dr Ramon Ganigué Pagès
WaterReuse Research Foundation “Regulated and Emerging Disinfection By-Products during the Production of High Quality Recycled Water” - Dr Maria José Farré in collaboration with WaterSecure, Veolia and the University of North Carolina, USA
SEQ Urban Water Security Research Alliance “Assessment of emerging and regulated disinfection by-products in South East Queensland Drinking Water” - Dr Maria José Farré with partners from Griffith University, Bond University, Seqwater and SEQ Water Grid Manager
Major Equipment and Infrastructure (MEI) Funding• A/Prof Damien Batstone was the lead applicant
(with several others) for a proposal to get two new anaerobic chambers and associated equipment, which received approximately $60k in funding
• Dr Korneel Rabaey was successful in leading a $100k funding proposal for three multichannel potentiostats
Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund (QSEIF) Grant “Bioelectrochemical system for production of caustic soda from pulp and paper wastewater” - Dr René Rozendal and Dr Korneel Rabaey. This project is set up through the AWMC spin-off company Bilexys.
Dr Korneel Rabaey, Dr René Rozendal and Mr Cameron Smeal (Gelita) obtained a Researcher in Business Grant to explore a novel approach for sulfide recovery from industrial wastewaters.
Dr Korneel Rabaey negotiated a new UQ Strategic Initiative, which will be known as the Centre for Microbial Electrosynthesis (CEMES). CEMES will focus on the electrical interface between microorganisms and surfaces, with the objective of using this interface for biofuel and biochemical production.
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AWMC Annual Report 2010 5
Partnerships & Commercial Activities
We wish to acknowledge and thank the following Association, Industry and Research Partners for their continued support in 2010.
AECOMAllconnex WaterAnoxKaldnes Biopolymer (Sweden)Australian Academy of ScienceAustralian Government
• Australian Research Council• National Water Commission• Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, UQAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, UQAustralian Institute of Marine SciencesAustralian Institute for Nuclear Science and EngineeringAustralian Meat Processors CorporationAustralian Pork LimitedAustralian Water AssociationBarwon WaterBond UniversityBrisbane City Council - Urban UtilitiesCH2M HillCSIROCurtin UniversityDCMDepartment of Energy, USAEcowise EnvironmentalEnvironmental Biotechnology CRCFoster’s BreweryGelita Pty LtdGHDGhent University, BelgiumGrains Research and Development CorporationGriffith UniversityHealthy Waterways Pty LtdHunter Water CorporationINRA - French National Institute for Agricultural ResearchInternational Water CentreInternational Water AssociationIRSA, ItalyIWESJ. Craig Venter Institute, USAJoint Genome Institute, USALinkwaterMeat and Livestock AustraliaMelbourne WaterMonash UniversityMoreton Bay Regional Council - Unity WaterNational Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (EnTox)
QGC Pty LtdQueensland Government
• Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
• Queensland Environmental Protection Agency• Department of Environment and Resource Management• Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services• Queensland Water Commission• Smart State Funding Program
Rural Industries Research and Development CorporationSA WaterSantos Pty LtdSEQ Urban Water Security Research AllianceSeqwaterSEQ Water Grid ManagerSinclair Knight Merz (SKM)South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USASouth East Water LimitedSunshine Coast Regional CouncilSydney Water CorporationTechnical University Delft, The NetherlandsTrisco FoodsTeys Bros.UniQuestUnited Water InternationalUniversité Laval, CanadaUniversity of Aalborg, DenmarkUniversity of Arizona, USAUniversity of Auckland, New Zealand University of East Anglia, UKUniversity of California, Berkeley, USAUniversity of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), USAUniversity of MelbourneUniversity of New South WalesUniversity of NewcastleUniversity of Science and Technology of China, ChinaUniversity of SydneyUniversity of TasmaniaUniversity of Technology, SydneyVeolia Environment Research and InnovationVeolia Environmental ServicesVeolia Water AustraliaVisy Pulp and PaperWageningen University, The NetherlandsWaste Technologies of AustraliaWater CorporationWater Quality Research AustraliaWater Services Association of AustraliaWaterSecureWSN Environmental Solutions Australia
Industry relevant research evident in more than 90 industry and research partners
6 AWMC Annual Report 2010
South East Water Upgrades the Mt Martha Biosolids Treatment Train
The Advanced Water Management Centre has provided South East Water (SEW) support in upgrading their Mt Martha wastewater treatment plant digesters. These digesters are now in the order of 20 years old, and have become capacity limited. Rather than replacing the digesters, SEW decided to upgrade them by implementing temperature-phased anaerobic digestion. This process has been investigated extensively at the AWMC, and was found to increase the performance substantially in exactly the application SEW is considering. Dr Damien Batstone assisted Adjunct Prof Ken Hartley in evaluating the existing SEW digesters and providing expected performance outcomes. A subsequent laboratory scale investigation provided information needed to further optimise design of the process.
“Having the AWMC in Australia provides an important research service that we can easily access, but their core research that is also highly relevant, provides us with additional process options, and reduces costs associated with process uncertainty.”, Mr Terry Anderson from SEW corporate strategy.
Personnel: A/Prof Damien Batstone, Dr Paul Jensen and Adjunct Prof Ken Hartley
CSIRO Flagship Cluster – Microbial Diversity in Engineered Systems
In 2010, CSIRO established the Energy Transformed Flagship, which included a cluster aimed at “Biotechnological solutions to Australia’s transport energy and greenhouse gas challenges”. Within this cluster, Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr Gene Tyson coordinate a significant effort to better understand microbial communities in engineered systems. In collaboration with CSIRO, the project team will set up (bio)electrochemical systems and anaerobic digesters designed and operated to provide fuels or chemicals starting from (waste) biomass. In these reactors, the team will investigate the dynamics and succession of microbial communities, as well as the directed evolution in specific genes such as cellulases. The ultimate goals are to better understand the relationship between microbial communities and system functionality, to mine for novel cellulases or other key degradation genes, and to explore the impact of selective pressure on microbial community development.
Chief Investigators: Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr Gene Tyson; Project staff: Dr Paul Dennis, Mr Mike Imelfort and Mr Kun Guo; Collaborators: Prof Mark Morrison, CSIRO
SEWEXSeweX is a consulting business based at the AWMC, and is operated under UniQuest Pty Ltd, the commercial arm of UQ. SeweX provides consulting services on the management of sulfide related odour problems in sewer systems to industry. The SeweX (Sewer Transformation) model, which has been developed by the Centre’s strong and internationally leading research team on sewer systems in the past seven years, is primarily used for identifying the problems and investigating options for their mitigation. SeweX also offers strong expertise and tools for offline and online measurement of wastewater characteristics in sewer systems. SeweX has successfully completed a number of consulting projects for water utilities across Australia. Allconnex Water (Gold Coast), Unity Water (Moreton Bay) and South East Water (Melbourne) have all benefited from SeweX services in the past.
The SeweX model is a mathematical model describing the physical, chemical and biological processes in sewers. The model also predicts the formation and emission of methane, a potent green house gas, in sewer networks. The SeweX model won the 2008 International Water Association’s Project Innovation Award (East Asia and Pacific Region) and the 2008 Excellence Award in Research, Development and Innovation of Engineers of Australia (Queensland Division). The model is under continuous enhancement under the Sewer Corrosion and Odour Research (SCORe) project - see page 20.
For further information, please contact the SeweX Business Manager Mr. Shaun Corrie on shaun@sewex.com.au or visit our website at www.sewex.com.au.
BILEXYS Bilexys has developed a revolutionary wastewater treatment technology, which converts organics in wastewater to caustic soda and hydrogen peroxide for re-use on site. The Bilexys technology is based on a bioelectrochemical system, which harnesses naturally occurring electrochemically active bacteria as catalysts to convert dissolved organic pollutants to hydrogen peroxide and caustic soda. The process is highly controllable and can produce the desired product at high purity. The Bilexys technology is applicable to a wide range of wastewater types, concentrations and flowrates. The chemicals produced by Bilexys reduce or replace the need to purchase and bring in chemicals, providing significant environmental and economic benefit to customers, with payback times between two and three years. Target industries include pulp and paper, petrochemical, breweries and wineries, with a total market opportunity of several billion dollars. Bilexys technology has already been taken successfully from the one litre laboratory scale to a fully operational pilot plant system.
For more information please contact info@bilexys.com
AWMC Annual Report 2010 7
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Analytical Research & Services
The AWMC Analytical Services Laboratory (ASL)The AWMC has an analytical laboratory providing services to internal and external clients. Besides routine analyses, the ASL continuously adapts and develops new analytical methods in the area of waste, surface and drinking water in order to support the AWMC researchers in their new research areas.
In 2010 the ASL was awarded a Major Equipment Infrastructure Grant (MEI). This allowed the purchase of a new HPLC and a CTC/GC/ECD for the analysis of low levels of greenhouse gases and disinfection by-products.
On a routine basis ASL is measuring nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen and total phosphorus, sulfur species (hydrogen sulfide, sulfate, thiosulfate, sulfite), anions, ethanol, methanol, and other alcohols, greenhouse gases (N2O, CH4), disinfection by-products, total organic carbon, glucose, lactic, formic, succinic and volatile fatty acids, organics, pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants, organic sulfur compounds, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV) and COD (chemical oxygen demand).
The Analytical Services Lab is equipped with the following instruments:
• Gas chromatograph with CTC autosampler and electron capture detector (ECD)
• LC-MS-MS (AB4000 QTRAP)• Gas chromatograph with masspectrometer and sulfur
chemiluminescence detector (GC-MS/SCD)• HPLC with reflective index, photoarray and
fluorescence detector• Three gas chromatographs with FID detectors• Total Organic Carbon Analyser with Total Nitrogen
detector (TOC/TN)• Ion chromatograph with conductivity and UV detector• Flow Injection Analyser• Inductive Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission
Spectroscopy instrument (ICP-OES)
For more information please contact Dr Beatrice Keller-Lehmann, b.keller@awmc.uq.edu.au
AWMC Offers Methane Potential and Activity TestingTests developed at the AWMC can provide certainty for anaerobic digestion projects. Anaerobic digestion technologies are an attractive option for the treatment of organic solids, resulting in a net energy generation and production of safe, easy-to-handle residues for beneficial reuse in agriculture. However, the feasibility of such a project is highly dependent on the speed and extent of degradation, which can vary for different materials. The AWMC is a key leader and developer of anaerobic biodegradability, activity and inhibition tests, offering independent testing to enable certainty in feasibility analysis. Ongoing testing of existing projects offers benchmarks to assess process efficiency and product quality. In 2010, BMP testing was used to help Sydney Water Corporation evaluate options for upgrading a large existing wastewater treatment plant. A variation of this test allows independent testing of anaerobic seed biomass, and digester biomass health.
Clients for this testing in 2010 included:- Foster’s BreweryAllconnex WaterMelbourne WaterSydney Water CorporationTrisco FoodsVisy Pulp and PaperWSN Environmental Solutions Australia
For more information please contact Dr Damien Batstone, damienb@awmc.uq.edu.auDr Paul Jensen, p.jensen@awmc.uq.edu.au
“Having the AWMC in Australia provides an important research service that we can easily access, but their core research that is also highly relevant, provides us with additional process options, and reduces costs associated with process uncertainty.” - Mr Terry Anderson from SEW corporate strategy.
8 AWMC Annual Report 2010
AWMC Annual Report 2010 9
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Services at the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML)The Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML) offers a range of services. The EML is a fully equipped modern laboratory for molecular biology and the culturing of microorganisms. These include facilities for manipulation and fingerprinting of DNA and various forms of enrichment and microbial culture techniques. Our location ensures we have ready access to a range of excellent complementary facilities that include confocal laser scanning microscopy, electron microscopy and flow cytometry. We have strong expertise and experience for molecular characterisation of environmental and industry samples particularly for determining microbial community composition. Services include;
• Microbial community profiling: Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (TRFLP) are high throughput methods that are very powerful for the comparison of microbial diversity in a number of samples, for example to examine spatial and temporal population variations.
• Community DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis: At the core of identifying microorganisms from environmental samples is sequencing of ribosomal genes. EML uses the latest techniques for cloning and “next-generation” DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic sequence analysis is used to determine the relationship of unknown microorganisms to known representatives.
• Microbial community structure using fluorescent probes: Fluorescently-labeled oligonucleotide probes based upon RNA sequences have achieved wide acceptance in the field of microbial ecology. This technique is widely used to visualise and identify microorganisms directly in the environmental sample, and is known as fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH).
Professional Development Courses Offered by the EML
FISH CourseFluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) is extensively used for analysis of microbial communities in a wide range of environmental samples such as sludge, seawater, rumen and biofilms. The FISH course is held annually at the AWMC and includes both the theory and practice to provide in-depth details and hands-on experience.
ARB CourseARB is a software package for analysis of DNA sequences and determining phylogenetic relationships between organisms. This is a convenient and widely used package that contains a large cumulative database – simplifying management and sequence analysis for phylogenetic comparisons, and for design and evaluation of FISH probes and primers. ARB incorporates some of the newest and most sophisticated tree-building algorithms. The most recent ARB course at EML was successfully conducted with a total of 26 participants.
For more information please contact Dr Phil Bond, p.bond@awmc.uq.edu.auDr Gene Tyson, g.tyson@awmc.uq.edu.au
10 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Research Programs
The Advanced Water Management Centre is an internationally recognised centre of excellence in innovative water technology and management. Its particular strength is the close integration of biological and chemical sciences, process engineering and informatics. This unique combination forms the basis for ground breaking research but also offers exciting opportunities for the development and application of user-specific solutions to challenging environmental problems.
AWMC Annual Report 2010 11
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The current water and energy crisis has brought about a major change in many aspects of the water industry. The shift towards a true urban water cycle, both at local and regional scale, poses numerous challenges and opportunities for the water industry as a whole.
The AWMC research portfolio consists of seven linked programs, shown below. The combined efforts of these programs are achieving sustainable outcomes for the water industry, protecting our water resources and critical infrastructure.
The following pages takes a look at the each of the programs and the outcomes for 2010.
SEWER RESEARCHProgram Leaders
Zhiguo Yuan Jurg Keller
MICROBIAL ECOLOGYProgram Leaders
Phil Bond Gene Tyson
GREENHOUSE GASESProgram Leaders
Zhiguo Yuan Paul Lant
WATER RECYCLINGProgram LeadersWolfgang Gernjak
Jurg Keller
(BIO)ELECTROCHEMICAL SYSTEMS
Program Leaders Korneel Rabaey
Jurg Keller
ANAEROBIC TECHNOLOGIESProgram Leaders Damien Batstone
Paul Jensen
NUTRIENT REMOVAL AND BIOPRODUCTSProgram Leaders
Maite Pijuan / Fran SlaterSteven Pratt
Water Recycling
In 2010, the Water Recycling Research Program has extended its collaboration with the SEQ Urban Water Security Research Alliance, a partnership between the Queensland Government, CSIRO, The University of Queensland (UQ) and Griffith University.
• In the context of source control we investigate which fractions of the total load of pharmaceutical residues in the influent of a sewage treatment plant or advanced water treatment plant originate from hospitals using modelling and experimental evaluations,
• With regard to advanced water treatment of municipally treated wastewater, we are looking at alternatives technologies to current microfiltration and reverse osmosis processes such as biological activated carbon and ozonation for the production of recycled water;
• In relation to the production of drinking water, we investigate the occurrence of regulated and emerging disinfection by products may be of concern for SEQ.
UQ, WaterSecure and Veolia Water continue their strategic collaboration with projects on:
• Membrane fouling, chemically induced ageing of membrane in RO technologies and integrity in membrane filtration of secondary effluents.
• Treatment and management of RO concentrate.• Strategies to control the formation of disinfection by
products during the production of PRW.
In the framework of the research program “Cities as Water Supply Catchments” ($13.5M) led by Monash University and supported by the National Water Commission, Victoria Smart Water Fund and various industry partners across Australia, AWMC researchers are looking at resolving issues related to safe harvesting of general urban stormwater for both potable and non-potable uses at household, streetscape, and neighbourhood scale.
Membrane Technologies for Advanced Water Treatment
Membrane technologies generally take an integral part in advanced water treatment schemes for the production of high quality water for recycling in a range of applications including industrial, agricultural and drinking water supply uses. Indeed, systems combining microfiltration and reverse osmosis membranes have successfully been implemented to produce purified recycled water. However, due to environmental and economical drivers, optimisation of these technologies is still necessary.
As part of the strategic collaboration between UQ, WaterSecure and Veolia Water Australia, we are actively working on membrane technologies with projects investigating:
• Impact of source water on membrane fouling in microfiltration and reverse osmosis membranes,
• Impact of fouling control chemicals on reverse osmosis membranes performance and ageing,
• Virus surrogates for the assessment of reverse osmosis membranes integrity,
• Reverse osmosis membranes rejection of DBPs and micro-pollutants.
In 2008, the Water Recycling Program was launched in a context of severe drought. This resulted in A$2.5 Billion water reclamation project to broaden sources of water supply. The implementation of the largest recycled water scheme in the southern hemisphere has provided a unique opportunity for the AWMC to develop cutting edge research on water recycling processes optimisation and alternative technologies evaluation, monitoring and management of emerging contaminants and improved strategies for sustainable purified recycled water (PRW) quality.
12 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Stormwater and Human Health Risk
Stormwater has been seen as a viable alternative water resource for different end uses.
Stormwater contains a wide range of chemicals as well as pathogens, some of which may be harmful to public health. Major impediments to stormwater harvesting and use include a lack of public acceptance and clear regulatory guidance related to a number of chemicals and pathogens that may be present in stormwater prior to its use.
To establish stormwater as a viable alternative source water, research is required to:
• Identify potential pollutants that may be present in stormwater and
• Characterise the associated risk based on exposure.
We, along with CSIRO Land and Water and Griffith University are investigating chemical/pathogens and human health risk associated with stormwater which is a part of project Cities as a Catchment for Water Supply. Other partners involved in this research project include Monash University, University of Melbourne, and AECOM sponsored by many industry partners.
Disinfection By-products in South East Queensland
Disinfectants, such as chlorine or chloramines, are powerful oxidants that oxidize the natural organic matter and anthropogenic contaminants present in waters. During this process, disinfection by-products (DBPs) may be generated.
Since 2008 we have been investigating the formation of nitrogenous DBPs, such as nitrosamines, in recycled water.
This year, the research on DBPs has been extended to investigate regulated and emerging DBPs not only in recycled water but also in drinking water.
• First, our ongoing collaboration with WaterSecure and Veolia has been leveraged by the USA funded agency Water Reuse Research Foundation to investigate the occurrence and fate of regulated and emerging DBPs during the production of PRW.
• Second, a new project funded by the SEQ Urban Water Security Research Alliance in collaboration with Griffith University, Seqwater, Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, LinkWater and Queensland Health aims to understand which emerging and regulated DBPs are generated during the production and distribution of drinking water in South East Queensland.
AWMC Annual Report 2010 13
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Researchers PhD Students Visiting Academics Visiting Students
Dr Julien Reungoat Mr Maxime Rattier Prof David Sedlak (University of California, Berkeley USA)
Prof Markus Röhricht (FH Giessen, Germany)
Prof Q. Yang (Henan Normal University, China)
Dr Adriano Joss (EAWAG, Switzerland)
Mr Tan Quach (TU Delft, Netherlands)
Mr Pengzhe Sui (Kyoto University, Japan)
Mr Florian Martin (FH Giessen, Germany)
Mr François Xavier Argaud (University of Joseph Fourier, France)
Ms Isabelle Pereira (Agro Paris Tech, France)
Dr Wolfgang Gernjak Ms Chrystelle Ayache
Dr Maria José Farré Mr Arseto Bagastyo
Dr Christoph Ort Ms Marie-Laure Pype
Dr Jelena Radjenovic Ms Katrin Doederer
Dr Marc Pidou Ms Emmanuelle Filloux
Dr Bogdan Donose
Dr Kristell Le Corre Research Support
Dr Rupak Aryal Ms Hollie King
The AWMC Water Recycling Team 2010
(B)ESs use whole-cell biocatalysts to drive oxidation and reduction reactions at solid-state electrodes. Due to the separation between the oxidation and reduction reactions, a large range of applications is possible in the context of water and energy recovery. The most widespread application is presently the microbial fuel cell, which aims to generate power from wastewater. More recently microbial electrolysis cells have emerged. These have notably expanded the range of applications of (B)ESs, particularly towards bioproduction.
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(Bio)Electrochemical Systems
Calcium Abatement in Wastewater Systems
While improved water efficiency decreases water usage, it also leads to increased ionic concentrations. For example in the pulp and paper industry, calcium accumulation causes expensive scaling. We are developing a bioelectrochemical system that generates caustic soda. This product is used for an up-stream calcium precipitation unit and on-site paper bleaching. This can help meet the demands of a smaller volume of process water without the economic and environmental cost of purchasing caustic soda.
Microbial Electrosynthesis
Microbial electrosynthesis is a novel process in which microorganisms are using electricity as their energy source for synthesis reactions. Indeed, electrical current can drive microbial metabolism, instead of more conventionally organic substrate derived from crops. As a result, it is possible to produce biofuels and biochemicals starting from CO2 or substrate organics, and electricity. The electricity in turn can be derived from wastewater treatment, or a different sustainable source of electrical energy.
Microbial Ecology of Engineered Environments
Engineered systems such as anaerobic digesters (ADs) and bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) perform a wide-range of functions, including wastewater clean-up, power delivery, and generation of useful products. Microbial communities are critical to the functioning of these systems but are poorly understood from a phylogenetic and a functional perspective. We are using a range of techniques including pyrotag sequencing, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to link the genetic and taxonomic diversity to the overall community functionality.
Mediated Electron Transfer to Modify Fermentation Pathways
Fermentation is a key biotechnology process extensively used to produce a wide range of potential products from primary substrates such as sugars and amino acids via anaerobic oxidation or electron neutral catabolic reactions. Notably, fermentations can be significantly affected by the redox conditions of the surrounding environment. This research project is focused on studying how an electrode can produce a shift in fermentation pathways towards more attractive end-products by inducing modifications on the redox environment using different redox mediators.
Ferric Sludge Recovery
Ferric chloride (FeCl3) is commonly used in many treatment plants in order to improve the precipitation of phosphate in the water. This generates a sludge that not only has no significant value at the moment, but brings with it a high disposal cost and environmental footprint problems. The formed chemical sludge is potentially the source of valuable compounds such as iron and phosphate. A novel 2-stage process approach is being developed in which first, the phosphate is released in solution after the addition of a sulphide solution and second, an electrochemical reaction with oxidation of sulphide to sulphur on the anode enables the recovery of iron.
Bioelectrochemical Transformation and Degradation of Recalcitrant Organic Pollutants from Wastewater
The removal of recalcitrant organic pollutants such as textile dyes, agro-chemicals or pharmaceuticals from wastewater is crucial for environmental and human health protection. The AWMC (B)ES group has developed an innovative and
versatile process for the treatment of such recalcitrant pollutants from wastewater using the powerful oxidation and reduction capabilities in BES. The concept is that wastewater needs to be first treated at the abiotic or biotic cathode (reduction) to improve its biodegradability, followed by biological oxidation of the remaining products at the anode of the BES. One or both of the oxidation/reduction reactions in the two chambers of the BES can be catalysed by bacteria to help reduce over-potentials and power consumption. The electrons released from the oxidation step at the bioanode can be utilised to reduce the recalcitrant organic pollutants at the cathode, hence eliminating the need for any co-substrates.
Electrochemical Sulfide Removal from Sewers
Sewer corrosion caused by hydrogen sulfide generation is a major issue in sewer management. Existing strategies are expensive, complex and often come with drawbacks such as the loss of organic matter. We propose a novel method, in which sulfide is removed electrochemically by means of in situ generated oxygen. Due to its ease of operation and lack of peripherals this electrochemical approach is expected to exhibit important advantages compared to existing technologies.
Sulfide Recovery from Wastewater
An electrochemical process has been developed to recover sulfide from wastewater through a two-phase system, in which the anode and cathode are switched over periodically to collect a concentrated sulfide or polysulfide solution. In the first phase, sulfide is anodically oxidized and precipitated as elemental sulfur, which is then cathodically reduced and collected as a concentrated stream of sulfide or polysulfide in the second phase. Investigations are underway to apply this novel process to wastewater from a gelatin processing plant, in collaboration with Gelita Australia Pty Ltd.
Treatment of Reverse Osmosis Concentrates
Electrochemical treatment appears an attractive option for the removal of trace contaminants from reverse osmosis concentrates (ROC). Key reasons for this are the high conductivity of the ROC (limiting energy requirement) and the replacement of oxidants by electrical current. We are investigating the influence of electrode material and operational strategy on the removal effectiveness, with a particular focus on decreasing the overall toxicity and increasing the biodegradability of the trace contaminants.
The AWMC (B)ES Team 2010
Project Leaders
Korneel Rabaey René Rozendal Jurg Keller Gene Tyson
Researchers
Yang Mu Stefano FreguiaPaul Dennis Mike ImelfortJelena Radjenovic Eugena LiStephen Anderson
PhD Students
Arseto Bagastyo Angela JohnstoneKun Guo Suzanne Read Elena Mejia Likosova
AWMC Annual Report 2010 15
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Greenhouse Gases
16 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Water and wastewater systems contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through both energy consumption (indirect emissions of CO2) and emissions of fugitive gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) (direct emissions). Methane and N2O are two potent greenhouse gases with global warming potentials 25 and 310 times, respectively, that of CO2 on a 100-year horizon. Their contributions to total net anthropogenic radiative forcing are very significant, at 30% and 10%, respectively.
AWMC has been directly addressing issues of GHG in the water industry since 2007 and indirectly long before this. Our greenhouse gas research program focuses on the understanding and mitigation of CH4 and N2O emissions from wastewater collection and treatment systems, as well as from receiving waters and water storages. The current research includes fundamental research with ARC Discovery grants as well as applied research in collaboration with industry through ARC Linkage projects aimed at the understanding, quantification and mitigation of GHG emissions. Our industry partners in these projects are Water Corporation, Seqwater and Healthy Waterways.
Recent and on-going projects 1. Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from South
East Queensland waterways; 2. Understanding and mitigating nitrous oxide emission
from wastewater treatment plants; 3. Understanding fugitive greenhouse gas emissions
from wastewater systems for reliable accounting and effective mitigation;
4. Direct methane and nitrous oxide emissions from full-scale wastewater treatment systems;
5. Fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater systems;
Nitrous oxide (N2O) Production from Wastewater Treatment Systems
The release of fugitive nitrous oxide from wastewater handling is a problem recognised globally. N2O is not only a potent greenhouse gas but also the single most important ozone depleting substance in the 21st century. Due to the highly dynamic conditions in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), N2O emission profiles are highly variable and difficult to measure. The AWMC GHG group is attempting to capture online emission profiles from full-scale WWTPs. This project is in collaboration with Water Corporation with the first online infrared N2O analyser in Australia installed in the Woodman Point WWTP, WA. An intensive sampling campaign aimed at establishing nitrogen balance and identifying conditions responsible for elevated N2O levels will be carried out in early 2011. The measurement program will then be rolled out to additional WWTPs.
In parallel to field studies, comprehensive lab studies have been carried out to understand key nitrogen transformation reactions leading to N2O production. Lab scale reactors are being used to test specific process conditions such as pH, free nitrous acid, free ammonia and dissolved oxygen concentrations on enriched cultures. Key findings to date from these studies include:
• pH has been shown to have a direct effect on the magnitude and mechanism of N2O production by nitrifying cultures.
• pH indirectly affects the concentrations of free nitrous acid that has been demonstrated to be a true inhibitor of N2O reductase activity of denitrifying bacteria, eventually leading to N2O emission.
Further development of fundamental understanding combined with field data will assist development of mitigation strategies to minimize N2O production and emission in wastewater treatment systems.
Climate change caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the major challenges facing mankind today. Substantial reductions in GHG emissions are inevitable and an essential shared responsibility for all sectors.
AWMC Annual Report 2010 17
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Methane (CH4) Production from Wastewater Collection Systems
Recent field studies carried out both in Australia and elsewhere showed that a significant amount of CH4 is formed in sewers, particularly in rising mains. Significant CH4 production and emission from wastewater collection systems can be a major source of fugitive greenhouse gas. The research is undertaken through a multi-disciplinary systematic approach by integrating process engineering, microbiology, biochemistry, and mathematical modelling. Experimental investigations comprise macro-level studies on full-scale and laboratory-scale systems, to micro-level investigations on biofilm and sediments, and further to molecular-level studies on microbial communities and their activities.
Progress to Date:
• Field study conducted by the GHG team revealed that CH4 emission from sewers contributes significantly to GHG emissions from wastewater systems;
• A mechanistic model characterising CH4 in rising main sewers has been developed by our research team;
• Laboratory and field tests have shown that several sulfide control strategies can significantly reduce methane formation as a side-effect.
The study of methane formation, emission and control in sewers is still in its early stages. In the future, the GHG team will work on the following knowledge and technology gaps:
• Identification of key sources and sinks of methane in gravity sewers, particularly in sewer sediments;
• Development of a model predicting the generation, oxidation and emissions of methane under different sewer conditions;
• Development of cost-effective methane mitigation strategies.
Fugitive Greenhouse Gas Emission from Receiving Waters
Natural waterways can be a significant source of N2O and CH4. Microorganisms in sediments and in the water column can produce or consume N2O or CH4 while converting carbon and nitrogen compounds. However, there is currently a lack of quantitative data for CH4 and N2O emissions from South East Queensland waterways. The GHG team, in collaboration with Seqwater and Healthy Waterways, is monitoring the emissions of these gases from selected South East Queensland dams, estuaries and bays.
Key findings to date from this project include:
• Elevated N2O and CH4 concentrations have been found in two bays (Bramble Bay and Deception Bay) and in the Brisbane estuary, indicating all these sites are sources of greenhouse gases. The concentrations of both N2O and CH4 varied spatially at all sites measured.
• Data obtained by this project and by a parallel investigation by Seqwater showed high CH4 concentrations in the deeper water layers of the two dams (Wivenhoe Dam and Little Nerang Dam). The mean CH4 flux from Wivenhoe Dam was at least two orders of magnitude lower than emissions from Little Nerang Dam. High spatial and temporal variability in CH4 emissions was found in both dams.
The AWMC Greenhouse Gas Team 2010
Project LeadersZhiguo Yuan Paul LantJurg Keller
ResearchersLiu Ye Shihu HuUrsula Werner Joe Lane
PhD StudentsYingyu Law Yuting PanYing Shi Ronald Musenze
Microbial Ecology
What’s Important for Formation of Aerobic Granules?
Aerobic granular activated sludge is an innovative technology the AWMC are adapting for the treatment of domestic wastewater. Aerobic granules have much superior settling capabilities in comparison to floccular sludge. This research is optimising the operation of sequencing batch reactors for aerobic granules. In an interesting discovery we find that a slow wastewater feed rate to the reactor causes loosely structured aggregates to form, rather than the desired densely packed granules. We hypothesise this due to differences in the microorganisms kinetic affinity for the wastewater substrates. Currently we are determining differences in the microbial communities and their function by analysing the protein and gene expression of these two granule types.
Evaluating Microbial Species and Function in Anaerobic Digestion
Temperature phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD), is a microbial process that has great potential for treatment of biosolids due to its high energy recovery, lower sludge production, cost effectiveness and low environmental effect. This research, funded through the Environmental Biotechnology CRC, examines the microorganisms active in the thermal pretreatment stage of a two stage anaerobic digester, to provide key conceptual insight of this hydrolysis-fermentation step. Two functionally different laboratory scale pretreatment reactors, one thermophilic (>50°C) and one mesophilic (35°C), were evaluated using 16S rRNA based molecular methods. Results indicate temperature had a significant positive correlation with the abundance of dominant ribotypes within the Thermotogeae and Firmicutes, and with enhanced hydrolytic performance. Analysis of microbial function, determined by protein detection (metaproteomics), illustrates the thermophilic sludge has a high abundance of extracellular proteins that are likely important for the enhanced hydrolytic performance of the pretreatment stage.
Molecular Characterisation of Microbial Communities Involved in Anaerobic Methane-Driven Denitrification
Anaerobic methane-driven denitrification (MDD) is a microbial process that drives the oxidisation of methane to carbon dioxide coupled to the reduction of nitrate or nitrite to dinitrogen gas. There are many obvious industrial uses for this process, however, whilst the prevalence of MDD in the environment has not yet been fully evaluated, it has potentially important implications for both the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. To date, two key groups of microorganisms have been shown to be involved in this process, a bacterium Candidatus “Methylomirabilis oxyfera” and ANME-2D-like Archaea. While “M. oxyfera” has been extensively studied, including the recent sequencing of its genome, a detailed understanding of the ANME-like Archaea is lacking. We are currently sequencing the genome of the ANME-2D-like Archaea using a novel single cell genomic approach in order to gain greater insight into how this organism carries out MDD. Additionally, we are characterising the microbial communities in several bioreactors at the AWMC that have been operated to enrich for organisms capable of carrying out MDD to identify other important microbial players involved this process.
Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) Bioreactors as a Model System for Understanding Phage-Host Dynamics
Phage (bacterial and archaeal viruses) are ubiquitous in the environment and drive the dynamics and evolution of microbial communities through predation and horizontal gene transfer. The sheer diversity of phages in natural environments makes it difficult to study phage-host interactions at the community scale. The EBPR bioreactors dominated by Candidatus “Accumulibacter phosphatis” represent an ideal controlled engineered system to monitor phages-host interactions. Further, phage predation could be responsible for dramatic collapses in EBPR performance.
Microorganisms occur in every habitat on earth, and are responsible for many of the steps in the global water cycle. At the AWMC, the microbial ecology team is attempting to understand microorganisms at every level, from genes through to ecosystems. The research uses cutting-edge molecular tools, as well as more traditional microbiological techniques, to gain fundamental knowledge and understanding of these complex, yet fascinating processes.
18 AWMC Annual Report 2010
To analyse the mechanisms of EBPR phage-bacteria interactions we are using metagenomics to sequence whole phage communities in a lab-scale EBPR reactor. In combination with this we are using PCR to study the activity of host defence genes against phage. We have successfully developed techniques to extract and sequence the DNA of phage communities and accurately quantify viral numbers using flow cytometry. Analysis of metagenomic data from an EBPR reactor has lead to our discovery of a novel mechanism in the phage-host arms race by which phage can potentially down-regulate essential defence genes of the host. Future work will focus on analysing, in depth, the temporal aspects of phage-host interactions in EBPR.
A New Research Partner at UQ: The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics (ACE)
The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, or ACE for short, is a new centre recently established in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biology as part of a strategic initiative to build capacity in microbial genomics at UQ. The AWMC is a major ACE research partner and has been centrally involved in its establishment. This collaboration is further cemented by the direct involvement of Gene Tyson as Deputy Director of the new centre and return of former AWMC postdoc, Prof Phil Hugenholtz, from the Joint Genome Institute in the US to be the ACE Director. ACE has three major research themes; environmental, host-associated and tree of life. An important component of the environmental theme is engineered systems and this is the focal point of AWMC-ACE research. A key collaboration with Prof Zhiguo Yuan and Dr Shihu Hu concerns the microbiology of anaerobic methane-driven denitrification (MDD). This collaboration has already resulted in the genome sequence of an MDD organism from an AWMC bioreactor revealing key metabolic underpinnings of this process. Further information about ACE including researchers and projects can be found at www.ecogenomic.org
We would like to thank the following funding agents and partners
Australian Institute of Marine SciencesARC Discovery and Linkage GrantsCSIRODepartment of Energy, USADepartment of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research - International Science Linkages (DIISR – ISL)Environmental Biotechnology CRCJoint Genome Institute, USAMeat and Livestock AustraliaMelbourne WaterSydney Water CorporationQueensland State Government (Smart State Fellowships Program)University of Arizona, USAUniversity of NewcastleUniversity of New South WalesUniversity of SydneyUniversity of Tasmania University of Technology, SydneyWater Technologies AustraliaWater Corporation
The AWMC Microbial Ecology Team 2010
Phil Bond Gene TysonFlorent Angly Fran SlaterPaul Dennis Mike ImelfortJeremy Barr Lauren BraggBarry Cayford Angela JohnstoneHasina Pervin Natacha Juste-PoinapenConnor Skennerton Marieska VerawatyKimber Kumbun Mohamed (Fauzi) HaroonHui Jie Lim
AWMC Annual Report 2010 19
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Electron micrograph of phage from an EBPR bioreactor
Sewer Corrosion & Odour Research (SCORe)
The generation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has long been known to be a major cause of corrosion and odour problems in sewer systems. However odour and corrosion in sewers has often been taken as a fait accompli, with sewer vents being closed if odour problems occur and the odours being vented elsewhere in the system or at the inlet to the wastewater treatment plant.
Development of fundamental scientific knowledge of sewer processes has been limited since the publication of the “Hydrogen Sulphide Control Manual” in 1989 which is still commonly used by industry for the prediction of sulfide generation in sewers.
Basic knowledge gaps still exist in our fundamental understanding of odours and corrosion including the following:
• Corrosion Processes & Control: The estimation of the corrosion rate and the life expectancy of pipes are very difficult to predict and are almost entirely based on empirical data about the past performance of pipes under similar conditions.
• Gas Phase Technologies: It is difficult to quantify and characterise odours from sewers without relying purely on costly, problematic and time consuming human olfactometry systems. In addition, applications of odour abatement systems rely on empirical data with little fundamental understanding of the processes occurring for the removal of the odour.
• Liquid Phase Technologies: A lack of understanding of the chemical and biochemical transformations that occur in wastewater and the impact of variables such as flow velocity, sediments, changes in wastewater composition. This makes it difficult to predict the impact of chemicals commonly used to control H2S in sewers such as O2, NO3
-, Mg(OH)2, FeCl3, etc. Without closing these knowledge gaps it is not possible to optimise dosing systems for the control of odours in the liquid phase or to reliably predict the impact of dosing systems on the receiving wastewater treatment plants.
There has been heightened interest in the management of odour and corrosion in sewers in recent years for a number of reasons:
1. Sewer systems are being extended to fringe populations around the major cities with ever increasing size of the collection systems and greater dependency on the pumping of sewage and hence greater generation of sulfides in the system.
2. Water restrictions and demand management of water supplies is resulting in significantly lower flows and higher concentrations of COD, sulfates and other pollutants. This then produces longer retention times in rising mains and the quicker onset of anaerobic conditions which cause generation of more H2S and to potentially higher concentrations (due to higher sulfate and/or COD concentrations).
3. Warmer climates over the last decade which lowers the solubility of oxygen, encourages the more rapid depletion of the oxygen in the wastewater and stimulates the generation of H2S by the sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB).
4. Trade waste regulations have reduced the amount of heavy metals (and other pollutants) that are discharged to sewers, which has reduced the precipitation of metal sulfides in sewers. Precipitation of the heavy metal sulfide would reduce the H2S concentration in the sewage. In addition it is believed that the heavy metals also have a inhibitory effect on the microbes responsible for H2S production.
The size of this problem is reflected in the broad support being provided to the SCORe Project by water utilities throughout Australia. There are 11 industry partners and 11 research partners. The project started in late 2008 and will run for five years with a total budget of approximately $20 million.
Optimal management of sewer systems has been hindered by a limited understanding of several key in-sewer processes, and the lack of tools and reliable technologies to support strategic decisions and cost-effective sewer operation. The value of public assets is being significantly diminished as a result of corrosion problems, with the replacement of concrete sewer pipes costing hundreds of millions of dollars yearly in Australia. This research program is delivering highly valuable outcomes for the Australian water industry.
20 AWMC Annual Report 2010
This project brings together the scientific knowledge of world-leading researchers and the vast amount of practical expertise available in the Australian utilities, which will ensure practical outcomes based on fundamental scientific knowledge. The skills and expertise possessed by the research providers and industry partners are very diverse yet complementary, enabling the integration of process engineering, mathematical modelling, environmental chemistry, material science and microbiology, together with operational experience, in the search for solutions.
The project comprises four themes under which ten subprojects are managed:
• Theme 1 - Understanding and predicting corrosion processes
• Theme 2 - Gas phase technologies• Theme 3 - Liquid phase technologies, and• Theme 4 - Decision support and knowledge
management
Six of the ten subprojects are being carried out by the AWMC as well as the overall project leadership, project management and organisational responsibility.
Despite being operational for only two years, outcomes from the SCORe project are already having a major influence on industry partner practices and decisions which are providing significant financial benefits. Some examples include:
• Testing of some odour control chemicals has been postponed by industry partners based on outcomes from laboratory and field testing of the project.
• Control strategies developed by AWMC are being applied for optimising the dosing of proven chemicals for odour and corrosion control.
• The SeweX model is now being used by several industry partners to predict and manage odour and corrosion in their sewerage collection systems.
We would like to acknowledge all of our partners in this research program:
Allconnex WaterBarwon Regional Water CorporationCH2M Hill AustraliaCurtin University of Technology Hunter Water Corporation Melbourne Water Corporation South East Water LimitedSouth Australian Water CorporationSydney Water CorporationThe University of NewcastleThe University of New South WalesThe University of SydneyUnited Water International (will be Veolia Water Australia after 1/6/11)Water CorporationWater Quality Research Australia (WQRA)
The AWMC Sewer Team 2010Concrete Corrosion Testing in LaboratoryPhil Bond Jurg KellerAntony Joseph Hoai TranBarry Cayford
Optimising Dosing of ChemicalsZhiguo Yuan Ramon Ganigué PagèsGuangming Jiang Jindong Chen
Testing of Emerging ChemicalsGatut Sudarjanto Zhiguo YuanOriol Gutierrez Guangming Jiang Guo Ren Lishan Zhang
Electrochemical Control of SulfideKorneel Rabaey Jurg KellerRené Rozendal Ilje PikaarEugena Li
Model-based Decision SupportKeshab Sharma Zhiguo YuanGatut Sudarjanto Evren TugtasYeting Niu Jing Sun
Knowledge ManagementRay Rootsey
AWMC Annual Report 2010 21
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Bioproducts & Nutrient Removal
Next Generation BioplasticsPHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) bioplastics are recognised as outstanding candidates to replace conventional plastics. Their mechanical properties are industrially relevant, they are produced from renewable resources, and they are truly biodegradable. Furthermore, our recent work shows that the PHA bioplastics synthesis has the capacity to utilise cheap and renewable carbon sources such as organic wastes, which are economically competitive with petroleum based alternatives.
We are teaming up with AnoxKaldnes Biopolymer of Sweden and UQ’s Centre for High Performance Polymers for an ARC funded project on using mixed microbial cultures to engineer commercial grade PHA. The aim is to advance mixed culture PHA technology by integrating state-of-the-art polymer characterisation and processing with mixed culture biopolymer production.
Our team has already successfully accumulated PHA in biomass harvested from wastewater treatment plants. We have extracted PHA from within the biomass, and have found that thermal properties and molecular weight are as desirable as those produced in mixed cultures. In the next phase of research we will be assessing the mechanical properties and rheology of our PHA, with the view of identifying markets for our bioplastic commodity.
Nutrient Recovery Helping to Improve the Sustainability of the Australian Agriculture SectorAustralia is one of the food bowls of the world, exporting approximately 50% of food produced nationally. We are also recognised as having some of the most sustainable and best managed agricultural sectors in the world. However, there are a number of issues over sustainability and pricing of mineral nutrients. Nitrogen is produced from fossil derived natural gas, while phosphate is mined from non-renewable resources. Supply issues have seen dramatic fluctuations in pricing over the last five years, particularly for phosphates. This is the driver for the Grains Research and Development Corporation to find new, sustainable sources of nutrients.
They have funded research at the AWMC to investigate recovery of nitrogen and phosphorous from waste streams. We have determined that up to 20% of the national phosphorous and nitrogen market could be supplied by recovering from waste streams, and that farm scale technology would both have a relatively rapid payback, as well as providing benefits such as renewable energy. This research is helping to provide new revenue streams to the agricultural sector, reduce environmental and greenhouse gas impact, and generate new sources for fertiliser.
Pandemic Concentrations of Pharmaceuticals in Wastewater: Effects on Nutrient RemovalThe recent H1N1 2009 influenza pandemic saw many people treated with antivirals and antibiotics. High proportions of both classes of drugs are excreted into wastewater and will eventually end up in treatment plants. There has been international concern that unprecedented levels of these pharmaceuticals in wastewater during a pandemic could have adverse effects on the bacteria in nutrient removal systems, causing decreased function. Additionally, downstream effects on aquatic life in receiving waters are unknown. Investigations have to date been mostly limited to modelling and pure culture studies.
We conducted the first assessment of the effects of pandemic-scale pharmaceutical doses on nutrient removal reactors. A laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor was operated as an aerobic granular sludge for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). There was little removal of antiviral compounds by the sludge, demonstrating the potential for antiviral compound contamination of receiving waters. We also recorded disruption to granule structure, to EBPR and nitrification, and to bacterial communities following high doses of antivirals and antibiotics. These findings indicate the risks of pandemic concentrations of pharmaceuticals to nutrient removal processes and highlight the need for further research. Our future investigations will look further at the mechanisms of the effects of these pharmaceuticals on bacteria responsible for nutrient removal, particularly focusing on biofilm disruption.
The AWMC has built a strong reputation in nutrient removal technologies over the last 14 years in the field. However, recent changes in the industry have given us new challenges including reducing costs, smaller treatment plants, and adding benefits to the treatment of wastewater, both domestic and industrial. This research program has met these challenges head-on, leading the world in the emergent technology of aerobic granulation systems and harnessing the potential bioproducts from wastewater.
22 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Algae Derived BiofuelsThe depletion of oil reserves and a quest for independence from fossil fuels are driving the search for alternative fuel sources. Biofuels from microalgae is an exciting and viable option. The direct advantages of algae-derived biofuels over conventional biofuels are a very high yield per hectare and no competition for arable land. Still, algae production currently relies on the availability of low cost synthetic fertilisers. At the AWMC we are aiming to address this by investigating the potential for using waste streams as an economic and sustainable nutrient supply for algal biofuels.
Our research focus is two-fold. Firstly we are aiming to produce biogas by digesting algae grown on wastewater, and ultimately boost biogas yields by pre-treating algal biomass prior to processing. We have already shown that pre-treatment can lead to a 30% increase in biogas production. Secondly, we are developing knowledge on microbial communities in open algal systems, with the view to understanding the interactions between key populations. The outcomes will be significant in terms of tracking nitrogen and phosphorus utilisation in algal ponds when wastewater is used as the nutrient supply.
AWMC Annual Report 2010 23
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The AWMC Bioproducts Team 2010
Steven Pratt Paul LantShelley Brown Philip KeymerMonica Arcos
The AWMC Nutrient Removal Team 2010
Maite Pijuan Fran SlaterPhil Bond Damien Batstone Chirag Mehta Thomas Seviour Jeremy Barr
Anaerobic Technologies
Anaerobic Technology Group Overview
Anaerobic technology research is an established program within the AWMC, we think of anaerobic biotechnologies as resource recovery technology, rather than solely waste treatment processing. Anaerobic processes handle concentrated organic streams without the need for expensive aeration operations. Methane rich biogas produced during anaerobic stabilisation is a source of green, renewable energy. As a result, anaerobic biotechnologies can generate energy rather than consuming it. In addition anaerobic stabilisation can mobilise valuable nutrients stored in organic materials with excellent fertiliser potential. The combination of these factors ensures anaerobic biotechnology has a strong future within an environmentally sustainable Australia.
Anaerobic technologies may be implemented at a broad range of technology levels in a range of industries. Therefore, the AWMC has assembled a diverse research team including over 15 academic staff, process engineers, molecular scientists and higher degree research students. We work across the product development cycles, from investigation of basic relationships between microbes to construction of large demonstration plants. The knowledge we develop in the laboratory feeds directly into our full-scale implementation and consulting work.
Linkages are strong with industry, and we have large research projects across most industrial sectors, including energy, agriculture, waste/wastewater treatment and industrial biotechnology. Here we showcase a number of projects that contribute to these areas.
In 2009, motivated by fluctuations in fertiliser prices, and practical agronomic advantages of natural fertilisers, the anaerobic group broadened its research program to include nutrient capture and recovery processes. Supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, AWMC is assessing the use of local materials for production of a high-value organically derived mineral fertiliser. This will be a direct replacement for existing fertiliser sources, with a fraction of the environmental footprint, and with a better agronomic profile.
Waste-to-Energy Program
Our waste-to-energy program has continued to develop in recent years. The small medium biosolids stabilisation project is using temperature phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) to achieve similar environmental and financial benefits of advanced large scale anaerobic treatment technologies with much lower capital investment. Until now advanced anaerobic digestion technologies have required huge capital investments that put them beyond the reach of many small to medium producers.
TPAD combines a relatively short thermo-biological pre-treatment with conventional anaerobic stabilisation. The pre-treatment stage stimulates the early stages of digestion resulting in significant improvements in overall stabilisation rates. These improvements in rate increase the loading rates through anaerobic processes while reducing the size and capital costs of process vessels. The sanitised final biosolid produced with elevated temperature during the pre-treatment step is a higher quality than biosolid achieved from conventional digestion and can be reused as a fertiliser product which is superior to chemical fertilisers in terms of environmental impact, cost, and plant nutrition. TPAD utilises simple infrastructure and is highly flexible for application to food processing residues, domestic sludge treatment from large municipalities to smaller communities down to 10,000 persons and other solid organic wastes. Expanding on the success of the small-medium scale biosolids project, AWMC researchers are now investigating short term thermo-biological reactors as a dedicated high rate anaerobic stabilisation technique. The development of high rate processes applicable to solids digestion is an exciting prospect.
Our waste-to-energy projects are supported by the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre (EBCRC), the Queensland State Government (Smart State RIPP Scheme), Meat and Livestock Australia Limited (MLA), the Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC), and Australian Pork Limited (APL) within the Methane to Markets Scheme.
The anaerobic technology group works across the product development cycles, from investigation of basic relationshipsbetween microbes to construction of large demonstration plants. The knowledge developed in the laboratory feeds directly into our full-scale implementation and consulting work. Linkages are strongwith industry, and we have large research projects across most industrial sectors, including energy, agriculture, waste/wastewater treatment, and industrial biotechnology.
24 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Small-Medium Scale Demonstration Facility
With the help of our industry partners, we are putting our research to the test. The small-medium scale biosolids demonstration plant was commissioned in 2010. Located at a red meat processing facility in South East Queensland the plant is designed to treat approximately five wet tonnes of organic waste per day. The demonstration plant is capable of processing both solid waste and wastewater streams onsite at the host plant. Biogas from the plant is used to fire an industrial water heater capable of producing over 100 MJ/hr. We are now looking at gas engines to generate electricity from the biogas.
Applying Computer Game Theory to Microbe-Microbe Interactions
Classical biological process modelling is effective but unsatisfying. We represent microbes the same way we represent chemicals such as water or sugars. That is, they are a bulk property that can increase or decrease in concentration or potency. The reality is vastly different, and as we know, microbes form biofilms, interact, predate on each other, and in other ways compete for, and share food, space, and nutrients. To properly represent this in models, we need to consider not only the microbes as individuals, but other characteristics such as size, shape, and secondary filamentous growth and motility. This is being addressed by a microbe-lagrangian modelling project, or modelling microbes as individuals. This not only considers chemical characteristics of the microbes, but also uses basic physics to describe how they interact on a physical level. For concepts such as collision detection and response, concepts from computer game programming are used, and we are finding that basic structural components such as microbe elasticity and strength can have a profound impact on the appearance of a simulated biofilm. In fact, some very complex biofilm characteristic can be explained by basic physics rules. The next phase will allow us to include cell physical structures such as bound proteins, and modelling of chemical interactions between cells.
Giving Bugs a Close Shave
A new research project is looking at how microbes function in naturally forming bio-granules. Granular biomass forms naturally in high-rate industrial anaerobic treatment systems. It is highly important for treatment systems such as used at Foster’s Brewery in Yatala, and Trisco Foods in Carole Park, both of whom have strong links to the AWMC. Yang (Kenn) Lu, an EBCRC PhD student at the AWMC is looking at a primary component in these granules, the microbes which break down complex organics. He has found that they mainly exist on the surface of the granule, and is now using new techniques to progressively shear layers from the granule, and analyse these separately from the parent granule. While the immediate goal is investigation of the structure of the granules, in the future we want to enhance their capability. This will allow us to further improve existing treatment systems, while expanding their application to more difficult wastewaters such as meat processing, intensive agriculture, and even domestic sewage, offering more sustainable, and lower cost wastewater treatment. The project is funded by the Environmental Biotechnology CRC. In the initial UQ-EBCRC project, we found microbes that were much better at breaking down the organic materials in sewage sludge. Now we want to make these microbes work in advanced, high-rate applications. This is a truly new technology that offers compelling advantages against existing competitors.
The AWMC Anaerobic Technologies Team 2010
Damien Batstone Korneel RabaeyPaul Jensen Phil BondFran Slater Bernardino VirdisChirag Mehta Chris CarneyHuoqing Ge Natacha Juste-PoinapenYang (Kenn) Lu Hasina PervinDang Ho Zuhaida Mohd ZakiPreethi Gopalan
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Ana
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The AWMC Team
AWMC Advisory BoardProfessor Graham Schaffer, Chair Executive Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland
Adjunct Professor Shaun Cox Managing Director, South East Water
Dr David Garman Executive Director, Environmental Biotechnology CRC
Professor Peter Gray Director, Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland
Dr Hung Nguyen Managing Director, MCQ Management
Mr Mark Pascoe Chief Executive, International Water Centre
AWMC Representation from Professor Jurg Keller, Professor Zhiguo Yuan and Dr Veronica Futo (COO)
Adjunct & Honorary AppointmentsAdjunct Professor Jon Black CEO of Unity Water
Adjunct Professor G. Bill Capati Manager - Infrastructure Planning, Allconnex Water
Adjunct Professor Shaun Cox Managing Director, South East Water
Adjunct Senior Lecturer Ben Fawcett Visiting Lecturer for the International Water Centre
Adjunct Professor Charles Foxall HSE Manager - CUB Yatala Brewery
Adjunct Professor Ken Hartley Principal, Ken Hartley Pty Ltd
Adjunct Professor Ian Law Owner and Director of IBL Solutions
Adjunct Research Fellow Christoph Ort Researcher, Urban Water Management, EAWAG, Switzerland
Honorary Professor David Richardson Dean, Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia, UK
Honorary Professor Willy Verstraete Head of the Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology, Ghent University, Belgium
Adjunct Professor Richard Went Strategic Group Manager Product and Asset Management, Allconnex Water
Honorary Professor Peter Wilderer Director, Institute for Advanced Studies on Sustainability, Germany
26 AWMC Annual Report 2010
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DirectorProf Jurg Keller
• Biochemical and environmental engineering
• Environmental biotechnology
Dr Phil Bond• Wastewater and environmental
microbiology• Microbial community function
analyses
Deputy DirectorProf Zhiguo Yuan
• Biological nutrient removal• Process modelling and control• Sewer management• GHG Mitigation
Dr Wolfgang Gernjak• Water recycling• Membrane fouling • Advanced oxidation processes• Solar energy for water mining
Prof Paul Lant• Biological wastewater
treatment• Wastewater and greenhouse
gas interactions• Sustainable urban
water systems
Dr Korneel Rabaey• Microbial ecology• Microbial fuel cells• (Bio)electrochemical systems
A/Prof Damien Batstone• Anaerobic digestion• Instrumentation, modelling,
and control• Industrial wastewater treatment
Dr Gene Tyson• Microbial ecology• Metagenomic and
transcriptomic approaches for microbial community characterisation
• Diversity and evolution
Academic Staff
Academic Support & Administration
Dr Veronica FutoChief Operating Officer
Dr Sandra HallCommunications and Training Manager
Mrs Wendy MahonCentre Administrator
Mr Ray RootseySCORe Project Manager
Mrs Vivienne ClaytonAdministration Assistant
Miss Ana Esposo Personnel and Finance Officer
Mrs Hong Lee Administration Assistant
Ms Jessica NottProject Officer - RHD Support & Communications (started May)
28 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Analytical Research
Dr Beatrice Keller-LehmannAWMC Lab ManagerEnvironmental and water analysis techniques
Ms Susan CookeScientific Officer (started May)
Ms Kar Man LeungLaboratory AssistantMolecular biology analysis(until April)
Ms Jianguang LiLaboratory Assistant
Research Team
Mr Stephen Anderson Research Assistant Bioelectrochemical systems
Dr Florent AnglyPostdoctoral Research Fellow Microbial ecology
Dr Rupak AryalResearch Fellow Stormwater and health risk (started October)
Dr Shelley BrownResearch Fellow Electrochemistry
Mr Chris CarneyResearch Assistant Anaerobic technologies
Dr Andrew CookResearch Fellow Microbial ecology (until June)
Dr Kristell Le CorrePostdoctoral Research Fellow Purified recycled water (started June)
Dr Paul DennisPostdoctoral Research Fellow (Bio)Electrochemical systems (started September)
Dr Bogdan DonoseResearch Fellow Water recycling (started April)
Dr Maria José FarréPostdoctoral Research Fellow Purified recycled water
Ms Shoshana FogelmanResearch Officer Intelligent sensors
Dr Stefano FreguiaResearch Fellow (Bio)electrochemical systems (started September)
Dr Ramon Ganigué PagèsPostdoctoral Research Fellow Sewer systems (started March)
Ms Christy GrobblerResearch Assistant Anaerobic technologies
Dr Oriol GutierrezResearch Fellow Odour control in sewer systems(until June)
Ms Dang HoResearch Assistant Anaerobic technologies(until August)
Technical Services
Mr Ampon Chumpia Technical Support Officer
Mrs Alyshia LyonsPC2 Lab Manager (started December)
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Dr Shihu HuPostdoctoral Research Fellow Greenhouse gases
Mr Mike ImelfortResearch Officer Bioinformatics (started August)
Dr Paul JensenPostdoctoral Research Fellow Anaerobic technologies
Dr Guangming JiangPostdoctoral Research Fellow Odour control in sewer systems(started November)
Dr Anthony JosephPostdoctoral Research Fellow Corrosion control in sewer systems
Mr Joe LaneResearch Scientist Life cycle assessment
Dr Eugena LiPostdoctoral Research Fellow (Bio)electrochemical systems(started May)
Dr Chirag MehtaPostdoctoral Research Fellow Intelligent sensors
Dr Yang MuPostdoctoral Research Fellow Bioelectrochemical systems
Dr Christoph OrtResearch Fellow Purified recycled water (until September)
Dr Marc PidouResearch Fellow Water recycling (started March)
Dr Maite PijuanResearch Fellow Aerobic granular systems (until June)
Dr Steven PrattResearch Fellow Environmental biotechnology
Dr Jelena RadjenovicPostdoctoral Research Fellow Purified recycled water
Dr Julien ReungoatPostdoctoral Research Fellow Water reuse technologies
Dr René RozendalResearch Fellow (Bio)Electrochemical systems
Dr Keshab SharmaResearch Fellow Process modelling
Dr Fran SlaterPostdoctoral Research Fellow Microbial ecology
Dr Gatut SudarjantoPostdoctoral Research Fellow Odour control in sewer systems
Dr A. Evren TugtasPostdoctoral Research Fellow Sewer modelling (until July)
Dr Bernardino VirdisPostdoctoral Research Fellow (Bio)electrochemical systems (started March)
Mr Shane WattsSenior Research Officer Aerobic granular systems
Dr Ursula WernerPostdoctoral Research Fellow Microbial biotransformations
Dr Liu YePostdoctoral Research Fellow N2O Emissions (started March)
30 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Mr Justice Baiano Lab Manager, May - December
Mrs Diana Dragisic Administrator, November - December
Mr Jeff Foley Research Scientist, January - February
Mr David De Haas Project Researcher, January - December
Mr Guangming Jiang Research Assistant, January - August
Mr Joe Lane Research Scientist, January - July
Dr Bronwyn Laycock Research Scientist, March - July
Ms Laurence Ledrut Research Assistant, March - September
Mr Yang (Kenn) Lu Lab Assistant, January - December
Mr Maxime Rattier Research Assistant, March - July
Ms Suzanne Read Lab Assistant, February - April
Mr Subash Sukumar Lab Assistant, November - December
Mr Simon Tannock Lab Assistant, March - June
Ms Hoai Tran Research Assistant, July - November
Mr Lishan Zhang Research Assistant, January - April
Casual Staff
Postgraduate Students
Monica Arcos Hernandez, PhD Student
Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates
Advisors: Prof Paul Lant and Dr Steven Pratt
Chrystelle Ayache, Cotutelle PhD Student
Assessment of the impact of biological pre-treatment on UF and RO fouling and micropollutants rejection
Advisors: Dr Wolfgang Gernjak and Prof Jurg Keller
Arseto Bagastyo, PhD Student
Electro-oxidative treatment of reverse osmosis concentrates
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey, Dr Jelena Radjenovic, Dr René Rozendal, and A/Prof Damien Batstone
Jeremy Barr, PhD Student - EBCRC (submitted December)
Fundamental microbial investigations into extracellular polymeric substances from aerobic granular sludge
Advisors: Dr Phil Bond and Dr Gene Tyson
Lauren Bragg, PhD Student – CSIRO
Development of statistical and computational methods for the analysis of metagenomic sequence data
Advisors: Dr Gene Tyson, Prof Mark Morrison (CSIRO) and Dr Glenn Stone (CSIRO)
Barry Cayford, PhD Student
Investigation of microbial biofilms responsible for sewer corrosion
Advisors: Dr Phil Bond, Prof Jurg Keller and Dr Gene Tyson
Katrin Doederer, PhD Student
Assessment of disinfection by-products during the disinfection of water and their fate across reverse osmosis membranes
Advisors: Dr Wolfgang Gernjak and Dr Maria José Farré
Emmanuelle Filloux, Cotutelle PhD Student
Performance and interest of coupling low and high pressure membrane filtration processes for the re-use of urban wastewater
Advisors: Prof Jurg Keller, Dr Wolfgang Gernjak and Dr Jean-Philippe Croue (KAUST)
Huoqing Ge, PhD Student – EBCRC
Small-medium scale organic solids stabilisation
Advisors: A/Prof Damien Batstone, Dr Paul Jensen and Dr Phil Bond
Preethi Gopalan, PhD Student
Least cost applications of anaerobic digestion to livestock wastes
Advisor: A/Prof Damien Batstone and Dr Paul Jensen
Kun Guo, PhD Student
Biofuels production from bioelectrochemical systems
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr René Rozendal
Mohamed (Fauzi) Haroon, PhD Student
Exploring novel microorganisms performing methane driven denitrification
Advisors: Dr Gene Tyson and Prof Phil Hugenholtz
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Dang Ho, PhD Student
High-rate methanogenesis
Advisors: A/Prof Damien Batstone and Dr Paul Jensen
Shihu Hu, PhD Student (completed June)
Enrichment and understanding of denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) organisms
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, Prof Paul Lant, and Dr Raymond Zeng (USTC)
Guangming Jiang, PhD Student (completed November)
Metabolisms of sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogens in sewers under oxic and anoxic conditions
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, Prof Jurg Keller and Dr Keshab Sharma
Angela Johnstone, PhD Student
Extracellular electron transfer in engineered environments - a genomic and proteomic approach
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr Phil Bond
Natacha Juste-Poinapen, PhD Student
Microbiology and genetics of interspecies electron transfer
Advisors: A/Prof Damien Batstone, Dr Korneel Rabaey, Dr Phil Bond and Dr Bernardino Virdis
Steven Kenway, PhD Student
Urban metabolism and the water energy nexus
Advisors: Prof Paul Lant and Prof Anthony Priestley (CSIRO)
Philip Keymer, PhD Student
Understanding nutrient transformations for algal biodiesel production in wastewater fed systems
Advisors: Prof Paul Lant and Dr Steven Pratt
Joe Lane, PhD Student
Applying LCA to urban water systems planning
Advisors: Prof Paul Lant and Dr Steven Pratt
Ying Yu Law, PhD Student
Understanding fugitive greenhouse gas emission from wastewater systems for reliable accounting and effective mitigation
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, Dr Katie De Jong (SKM) and Prof Paul Lant
Yang (Kenn) Lu, PhD Student
Characterisation and modification of fermentation microbial in anaerobic granules
Advisors: A/Prof Damien Batstone, Dr Fran Slater
Elena Mejia Likosova, PhD Student
Biological activated carbon filtration as pre-treatment for membrane filtration of secondary effluent
Advisors: Dr Wolfgang Gernjak and Prof Jurg Keller
Rhiannon Mondav, PhD Student
Melting permafrost microbial communities and methane flux
Advisors: Dr Gene Tyson and Prof Phil Hugenholtz
Ronald Musenze, PhD Student
Fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from South East Queensland waterways
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, Dr Ursula Werner and Mr James Udy (Seqwater)
Yeting Niu, PhD Student (withdrawn July)
Improvement of the modelling of sulfide formation in rising main
Advisors: Dr Keshab Sharma and Prof Zhiguo Yuan
Yuting Pan, PhD Student
Understanding and mitigating nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment plants
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, Dr Liu Ye and Dr Maite Pijuan
Hasina Pervin, PhD Student – EBCRC
Microbial community and function analysis during optimisation of small to medium scale organic solid stabilisation
Advisors: Dr Phil Bond, Dr Gene Tyson and A/Prof Damien Batstone
32 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Ilje Pikaar, PhD Student
Electrochemical abatement of sulfide
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey, Dr René Rozendal and Prof Jurg Keller
Zuhaida Mohd Zaki, PhD Student
Regulation of mixed culture fermentation
Advisors: A/Prof Damien Batstone and Dr Steven Pratt
Maxime Rattier, PhD Student
Biological activated carbon filtration for tertiary treatment of wastewater
Advisors: Dr Wolfgang Gernjak, Dr Julien Reungoat and Prof Jurg Keller
Suzanne Read, PhD Student (submitted April)
Microbial ecology of extracellular electron transfer (EET)
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey, Dr Philip Bond and Prof Jurg Keller
Thomas Seviour, PhD Student - EBCRC (submitted December)
Macromolecular associations in aerobic granular sludge derived EPS
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan, Dr Maite Pijuan and Prof Jurg Keller
Ying Shi, PhD Student
Understanding fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater systems for reliable accounting and effective mitigation
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan and Dr Shihu Hu
Connor Skennerton, PhD Student
Ecology and Evolution of phage-host interactions in a model ecosystem
Advisors: Dr Gene Tyson and Prof Phil Hugenholtz
Jing Sun, PhD Student
Understanding nitrous oxide emissions from South East Queensland waterways
Advisors: Prof Zhiguo Yuan and Dr Shihu Hu
Hoai Tran, PhD Student (withdrawn July)
Optimal management of corrosion and odour problems in sewer systems
Advisors: Prof Jurg Keller, Dr Phil Bond and Dr Antony Joseph
Marieska Verawaty, PhD Student – EBCRC
A novel aerobic granular sludge for domestic wastewater treatment system
Advisors: Dr Phil Bond, Prof Zhiguo Yuan and Dr Maite Pijuan
Bernardino Virdis, PhD Student (completed March)
Nitrogen removal in bioelectrochemical systems
Advisors: Prof Jurg Keller, Dr Korneel Rabaey, Prof Zhiguo Yuan and Dr René Rozendal
Qilin Wang, PhD Student
The investigation for methane formation, emissions and mitigation from wastewater
Advisor: Prof Zhiguo Yuan
Undergraduate & Coursework StudentsReuben Ashwin Durairatnam - Completed November
Master of Biotechnology
Assessment of NDMA formation potential of organic precursors during advancement oxidation processes
Advisor: Dr Wolfgang Gernjak
Kimber Kumbun - Completed November
Bachelor of Biotechnology
Chemotactic behaviour of freshwater microorganisms to environmental contaminants
Advisor: Dr Gene Tyson
Laurence Ledrut - Completed July
Master of Engineering
Phosphate removal from iron phosphate sludge
Advisors: Prof Jurg Keller and Dr René Rozendal
Hui Jie Lim - Completed July
Bachelor of Biotechnology
Dynamics of microbial communities during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge
Advisor: Dr Phil Bond
Hui-Wen Lin - Completed November
Master of Biotechnology
Electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide at carbon gas diffusion electrodes and a bioelectrochemical study of electrochemically active microorganisms under the presence of hydrogen peroxide
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr René Rozendal
Jianmin Pei - Completed November
Master of Biotechnology
The effect of COD /S ratio on methane production and sulfate reduction in sewers
Advisor: Dr A. Evren Tugtas
Subash Sukumar Master of Biotechnology
Assessing the impact of the disinfectants on the polymer chemistry of thin film composite reverse osmosis membranes
Advisors: Dr Bogdan Donose and Dr Wolfgang Gernjak
Alexander Wise - Completed November
Bachelor of Biotechnology (Hon)
Electricity Driven production of 1,3-propanediol by mixed populations
Advisors: Dr Korneel Rabaey and Dr Gene Tyson
Kai Zhang - Completed November
Master of Science (coursework)
M-CRISPR Finder Tool (M-CFT): a bioinformatical tool for finding clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR) in metagenomic data
Advisor: Dr Gene Tyson
Dr Ricardo Bello-Mendoza El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico, March 09 – February 10
Dr August Bonmati Blasi GIRO CT, Institute of research and food industry, Spain, November 09 – April 10
Dr Claire Dumas INRA, French National Institute for Agriculture Research, France, October - December
Prof Urs von Gunten Department for Water Resources and Drinking Water Eawag Switzerland, April
Dr Christof Holliger Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland, January - August
Dr Adriano Joss Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland, August 10 - August 11
Dr Dong-Jin Kim Hallym University, Republic of Korea, January - December
Dr Robbert Kleerebezem Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, November - December
Dr Bruce Logan Penn State University, USA, March - April
Dr Juqing Lou Zhejiang Gongshang University, China, October 10 - October 11
Dr Peili Lu Chongqing University, China PR, June 09 – June 10
Dr Markus Röhricht University of Applied Sciences, Giessen-Friedberg, Germany, October 09 – February 10
Dr Virginie Rossard INRA, French National Institute for Agriculture Research, France, September - December
Dr David Sedlak University of California, Berkeley CA USA, January - March
Dr Matthew Sullivan University of Arizona, USA, June - July
Dr Xinfeng Xiao Shandong University of Science and Technology, China, August 10 - August 11
Dr Qingxiang Yang Henan Normal University China, China PR, December 09 - February 10
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International Visiting Academics
International Visiting Students
“The AWMC is an excellent place to meet and work with dynamic world class researchers. The enthusiasm in joining fundamental and applied science, plus for me, enjoying working on improved water management solutions, was the reasons in coming to work here on sabbatical.” - Adriano Joss
International Visiting StudentsMs Freja Aasted Aalborg University, Denmark, July - December
Ms Eva Andresen Aalborg University, Denmark, July 10 - February 11
Mr Francois-Xavier Argaud University Joseph Fourier, France, May - September
Ms Alinne Castro University of Brazil, Brazil, June
Mr Jindong Chen Jiangnan University, China, October 10 - March 12
Ms Xin Mei Guo INRA, French National Institute for Agriculture Research, France March - May
Mr Florian Martin University of Applied Sciences Giessen, Germany October 10 - February 11
Ms Liliana Montaño National Autonomus University of Mexico, April - July
Ms Julia Mueller The Ohio State University, USA, November - December
Ms Isabelle Pereira Agro Paris Tech, France, March - August
Mr David Probant University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany, January - June
Ms Marie-Laure Pype University de Montpellier, France, June 10 - February 11
Mr Yan Rafrafi INRA, French National Institute for Agriculture Research, France September - December
Mr Pengzhe Sui Kyoto University, Japan, November 10 - March 11
Dr Yiu Fai (Chris) Tsang Homg Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Chi Wan), China PR November 09 - May 10
Mr Tan Quach TU Delft, Faculty Civil Engineering, Netherlands September 10 - February 11
Ms Mi Zhou Dalian University of Technology, China, September 10 - August 11
Financial Report
Income for 2010University Income University Allocation (Postgraduate Supervision plus Research Quantum) $ 354,203 Postgraduate Tuition Fee Income $ 97,315 Major Equipment and Infrastructure Grant $ 169,000 UQ Research Start Up Fund $ 25,206 UQ Early Career Research Grants $ 55,000 UQ External Support Enabling Grants $ 1,925 Other Internal Income $ 146,754 $ 849,403
Salary Support UQ Salary Support and Teaching Income $ 801,042 Water Recycling Research Program (UQ Strategic Support) $ 150,000 Environmental Biotechnology CRC Project Staff $ 58,304 ARC Project and Smart State Fellowships $ 400,358 Industry Partner Fellowship Support $ 16,000 $ 1,425,704 Scholarship Support UQ Scholarships Support $ 7,417 Commonwealth Scholarships - APA/APAI/ARC $ 219,829 Environmental Biotechnology CRC Scholarships $ 125,204 Smart State Scholarships $ 5,000 External Scholarships $ 88,000 $ 445,450 Grants and Collaborative Research (excluding Salaries & Scholarships) ARC Discovery Grants $ 1,180,655 ARC Linkage Grants $ 990,216 ARC Linkage - Industry Partner Contributions $ 1,065,025 Australian Industry Contributions $ 151,604SEQ Urban Water Security Research Alliance $ 645,569 DIISR ISL Grants $ 353,792 QLD Government Smart State Program $ 223,000 Other Government Grants $ 62,214Water Recycling Research Program (Veolia Water and WaterSecure) $ 750,000Cities as Water Supply Catchments Project $ 356,325 Grains R&D Corporation Funding $ 265,995 Environmental Biotechnology CRC research projects $ 148,924 Consultancy Income $ 400,634 $ 6,593,953 Total income $ 9,314,510
Expenditure Expenses 2007 2008 2009 2010Consumables $ 1,133,446 $ 2,236,232 $ 1,416,665 $ 1,114,924Travel $ 232,266 $ 273,370 $ 419,339 $ 471,378Academic and Research Salaries $ 1,779,285 $ 2,821,922 $ 3,258,602 $ 3,782,407General Salaries $ 315,782 $ 393,016 $ 493,345 $ 841,859Scholarships $ 243,746 $ 218,343 $ 614,043 $ 447,415Equipment $ 147,671 $ 288,250 $ 549,472 $ 707,115Appointment Expenses $ 18,313 $ 47,127 $ 62,987 $ 75,370 Payments to collaborative partners $ 671,785 $ 1,300,355Total Expenditure $ 3,870,509 $ 6,278,260 $ 7,486,238 $ 8,740,823
Operating Result $ 573,686 (including existing commitments to ongoing research projects)
34 AWMC Annual Report 2010
2010 Active Research Grants
Grant Title Duration Chief Investigators Funding
Novel concept for wastewater treatment with integrated power production based on microbial fuel cells
2006 - 2010 Jurg Keller and Zhiguo Yuan, Willy Verstraete (Univ. Ghent, Belgium)
ARC Discovery - Australian Professorial Fellowship (Keller)
Anaerobic digestion process scientific support 2006 - 2010 Damien Batstone Gold Coast Water (now Allconnex Water), Brisbane Water (now Urban Utilities)
NEPTUNE - Novel technology to produce biodegradable polymer and electrical energy from sewage treatment biosolids
2007 - 2010 Jurg Keller, Paul Lant, Damien Batstone, Korneel Rabaey, Steven Pratt, Shelley Brown and five partner investigators
DIISR International Science Linkages/European Union
SEQ urban water security research alliance - Life cycle analysis and integrated modelling
2007 - 2010 Paul Lant Queensland Government
Advanced aerobic granulation - Project 4.22 2007 - 2010 Maite Pijuan, Zhiguo Yuan, and Jurg Keller
Environmental Biotechnology CRC
INNOWATECH - Novel microbial technologies for improved treatment of industrial wastewater
2007 - 2011 Jurg Keller, Zhiguo Yuan, Phil Bond
DIISR International Science Linkages/European Union
SEQ urban water security research alliance - N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation potential
2007 - 2012 Jurg Keller and Maria José Farré
Queensland Government
SEQ urban water security research alliance - Enhanced treatment
2007 - 2012 Jurg Keller and Julien Reungoat Queensland Government
SEQ urban water security research alliance - Purified recycled water
2007 - 2012 Jurg Keller and Christoph Ort Queensland Government
Extracellular electron transfer in bio-electrochemical systems
2008 - 2011 Korneel Rabaey, Phil Bond, Kenneth Nealson (J. Craig Venter Institute, USA), Nico Boon (Univ. Ghent, Belgium) and Susan Turner (Univ. Auckland, New Zealand)
ARC Discovery - Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (Rabaey)
Least cost applications of anaerobic digestion in agriculture - Methane to markets scheme
2008 - 2011 Damien Batstone Australian Pork Limited, Meat and Livestock Australia, Rural Industries RDC
Next generation solids stabilisation 2008 - 2012 Damien Batstone, Phil Bond and Paul Jensen
Queensland Government Smart State Research Industry Partnerships Program - Meat and Livestock Australia, Environmental Biotechnology CRC
Water recycling research program 2008 - 2012 Wolfgang Gernjak and Jurg Keller
Veolia Water Australia, WaterSecure, UQ
Optimal management of corrosion and odour problems in sewer systems
2008 - 2013 Zhiguo Yuan, Jurg Keller, Phil Bond, Korneel Rabaey and nine other chief/partner investigators
ARC Linkage with 16 Partners
A novel method for sulfur recovery from paper industry wastewater
2009 - 2010 Jurg Keller, Korneel Rabaey and René Rozendal
UQ First Link Fund
Characterising phage-host dynamics in wastewater communities
2009 - 2010 Gene Tyson UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
Bioelectrochemical systems for the production of butanol from waste organics or renewable power
2009 - 2010 Korneel Rabaey UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards - DVC(R) Funding
Coupling of biological activated carbon filtration and membrane processes to generate high quality recycled water with low energy consumption
2009 - 2010 Wolfgang Gernjak and Julien Reungoat
UQ First Link Fund
SEQ urban water security research alliance - Fate and effects of micropollutants in water recycling: Influence of dissolved organic matter
2009 - 2010 Wolfgang Gernjak and Beate Escher (EnTox)
Queensland Government
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Grant Title Duration Chief Investigators Funding
Fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater collection, treatment and receiving systems
2009 - 2010 Zhiguo Yuan and Jurg Keller UQ First Link Fund
Occurrence and fate of illicit drugs in Australian sewage treatment work
2009 - 2010 Christoph Ort UQ First Link Fund
Production of algae biofuel: A multi-benefit solution for managing coal seam gas water
2009 - 2010 Steven Pratt, Paul Lant and Damien Batstone
UQ First Link Fund
Recovery of phosphate and iron from chemical precipitation sludge in water recycling processes
2009 - 2010 Jurg Keller and Zhiguo Yuan UQ First Link Fund
Review of waste to energy processes for the chicken meat industry
2009 - 2010 Damien Batstone FSA Consulting
Understanding and control of methane formation and emission from wastewater collection systems
2009 - 2010 Jurg Keller, Zhiguo Yuan and Keshab Sharma
UQ First Link Fund
ANAMIX: A two year exchange programme on anaerobic mixed cultures to study and improve biological generation of chemicals and energy carriers from organic residues generated by agro-industrial activity
2009 - 2011 Damien Batstone Australian Academy of Science
Biotransformation and biodegradation of organic nitrogen compounds from wastewater in bio-electrochemical systems
2009 - 2011 Yang Mu and Jurg Keller ARC Discovery - Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (Mu)
Fertiliser from waste: Phase 1 2009 - 2011 Damien Batstone Grains RDC
Understanding fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater systems
2009 - 2011 Zhiguo Yuan, Paul Lant and David Richardson (UEA, UK)
ARC Discovery
Electrochemical treatment of problematic water recycle waste streams
2009 - 2012 Korneel Rabaey, Yang Mu, René Rozendal, Damien Batstone, Jurg Keller, Jochen Mueller (EnTox), Wolfgang Gernjak, Yvan Poussade (Veolia Water Australia) and Benjamin Tan (QLD Health)
ARC Linkage: Veolia Water Australia, Magneto Special Anodes, Queensland Health and SEQ UWSRA
Understanding and mitigating nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment plants
2009 - 2012 Zhiguo Yuan, Katie De Jong (SKM) and Paul Lant
ARC Linkage: Water Corporation
Novel aerobic granular sludge process for optimal wastewater treatment
2009 - 2012 Phil Bond Queensland Government Smart State Fellowships (Bond)
Interspecies electron transfer in biotechnology 2009 - 2013 Damien Batstone, Korneel Rabaey, Cristian Picioreanu (TU Delft, The Netherlands) and Alfons Stams (Wageningen Univ., The Netherlands)
ARC Discovery - Australian Research Fellowship (Batstone)
Production of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) bioplastics from organic waste
2009 - 2013 Paul Lant, Steven Pratt, Alan Werker (AnoxKaldnes) and Peter Halley (AIBN)
ARC Linkage: AnoxKaldnes, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (Australia) Pty Ltd
A facility to characterise disinfection by-products and dissolved organic matter in potable water and potable water sources
2010 - 2010 Jurg Keller, Zhiguo Yuan, Wolfgang Gernjak, Jelena Radjenovic, Maria José Farré and Beatrice Keller-Lehmann
UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
Diversity and distribution of methanogenic and methanotrophic microorganisms in the suboxic transition zones of Little Nerang Dam
2010 - 2010 Zhiguo Yuan, Gene Tyson and Shihu Hu
Seqwater
Transformation and distribution of fossil carbon in wastewater treatment pathway, from input to discharge
2010 - 2010 Paul Lant and Yingyu Law Australian Institute Nuclear Science and Engineering
Understanding the competition between sulfate reducing bacteria and methane producing Archaea in anaerobic sewer biofilms
2010 - 2010 Keshab Sharma UQ Early Career Researcher
(Bio)electrochemical recovery of caustic and polysulphide compounds from industrial wastewater (Researcher in Business Project)
2010 - 2011 René Rozendal, Korneel Rabaey and Cameron Smeal (Gelita)
Gelita Australia Pty Ltd
Effect of low flow in sewers on blockages, corrosion and downstream processes
2010 - 2011 Zhiguo Yuan, Shihu Hu and Jurg Keller
Sydney Water Corporation
Enhancing ethanol production in Escherichia coli through electrochemical stimulation
2010 - 2011 Bernardino Virdis UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
Impact of oxygen on methane production in sewer systems
2010 - 2011 Ramon Ganigué Pagès UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
Influence of the composition of effluent organic matter on the adsorption of micropollutants in conventionally treated wastewater
2010 - 2011 Julien Reungoat UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
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Grant Title Duration Chief Investigators Funding
Optimisation of biological pre-treatment to limit microfiltration/ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis fouling and maximise retention of organic contaminants
2010 - 2011 Jurg Keller and Wolfgang Gernjak
DIISR - International Science Linkage French-Australian Science and Technology Program
Simultaneous recovery of phosphorus and scale control in secondary effluent membrane filtration
2010 - 2011 Marc Pidou UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
The effect of free nitrous acid on anaerobic metabolism of polyphosphate accumulating organisms and glycogen accumulating organisms in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems
2010 - 2011 Liu Ye UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
UV/H2O2 oxidation: Study of reaction mechanisms and structural elucidation of degradation products of selected pharmaceuticals and pesticides
2010 - 2011 Jelena Radjenovic UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
Cities as water supply catchments 2010 - 2012 Wolfgang Gernjak, Jurg Keller, Paul Lant and Beate Escher (EnTox) with several partners from Monash University (project leader)
National Water Commission, Victorian Smart Water Fund, Monash University and funding from more than 15 industry partners
Coals as methane bioreactors: significance of microbial methane generation in coal seams for coal seam gas production and CO2 geosequestration
2010 - 2012 Gene Tyson ARC Linkage: QGC Pty Ltd, Santos Ltd, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
SEQ urban water security research alliance - Hospital wastewater
2010 - 2012 Wolfgang Gernjak, Jurg Keller and Kristell Le Corre
Queensland Government
Hydrogen peroxide production through bioelectrochemical conversion of wastewater organics
2010 - 2012 René Rozendal UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (Rozendal)
SEQ urban water security research alliance - Assessment of regulated and emerging disinfection by-products in South East Queensland drinking water
2010 - 2012 Maria José Farré Queensland Government
Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from South East Queensland waterways and influence of wastewater discharges
2010 - 2013 Zhiguo Yuan, Raymond Zeng (USTC), Jurg Keller, Eva Abal (Healthy Waterways) and James Udy (Seqwater)
ARC Linkage: Healthy Waterways Pty Ltd, Seqwater
Iron and Phosphorus recovery from iron precipitation sludge
2010 - 2013 Jurg Keller, René Rozendal, Korneel Rabaey, Yvan Poussade (Veolia Water Australia) and Cedric Robillot (WaterSecure)
ARC Linkage: Veolia Water Australia, Seqwater
The only constant is change: ecology and evolution of phage-host interactions in a model ecosystem
2010 - 2014 Gene Tyson and Phil Hugenholtz (ACE)
ARC Discovery - QEII Fellowship (Tyson)
ACE - Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, UQ; AIBN - Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, UQ; ARC - Australian Research Council; CRC - Cooperative Research Centre; DIISR - Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research; EnTox - National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, UQ; RDC - Research and Development Corporation; SEQ - South East Queensland; SKM - Sinclair Knight Merz; UEA - University of East Anglia, UK; USTC - University of Technology and Science of China; UWSRA - Urban Water Security Research Alliance
2010 Publications
Theses
The following theses of AWMC enrolled students were submitted in 2010.
Barr, J. (2010) The microbial ecology of granular sludge in enhanced biological phosphorus removal, PhD
Hu, S. (2010) Enrichment and understanding of denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) organisms, PhD, Conferred
Jiang, G. (2010) Control of sulfide and methane production in sewers using nitrate and nitrite, PhD, Conferred
Read, S. (2010) Microbial ecology of extracellular electron transfer, PhD
Seviour, T. (2010) Aerobic sludge granules: Macromolecular associations in extracellular polymeric substances, PhD
Virdis, B. (2010) Nitrogen removal in bioelectrochemical systems, PhD, Conferred
Zhang, L. (2010) Understanding the biotransformation processes in a sewer system to achieve optimal management, PhD, Conferred
Peer reviewed publications
Antony, P.J., Singh Raman, R. K., Kumar, P., Raman, R. (2010) Role of microstructure on corrosion of duplex stainless steel in presence of bacterial activity, Corrosion Science, 52:1404-1412
Arcos-Hernandez, M.V., Gurieff, N., Pratt, S., Magnusson, P., Werker, A., Vargas, A., and Lant, P. (2010) Rapid quantification of intracellular PHA using infrared spectroscopy: An application in mixed cultures, Journal of Biotechnology, 150(3):372-379
Assemi, S., Tadjiki, S., Donose, B. C., Nguyen, A.V., and Miller, J. (2010) Aggregation of fullerol C60(OH)24 nanoparticles as revealed using flow field-flow fractionation and atomic force microscopy, Langmuir, 26 (20):16063–16070
Baker-Austin, C., Potrykus, J., Wexler, M., Bond, P.L., and Dopson, M. (2010) Biofilm development in the extremely acidophilic archaeon ‘Ferroplasma acidarmanus’ Fer1, Extremophiles, 14(6):485-491
Barr, J.J., Blackall, L.L. and Bond, P.L. (2010) Further limitations of phylogenetic group specific probes used for the detection of bacteria in environmental samples, The ISME Journal, 4(8):959-961
Barr, J.J., Cook, A.E. and Bond, P.L. (2010) Granule formation mechanisms within an aerobic wastewater system operating for phosphorus removal, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76 (22):7588-7597
Barr, J.J., Slater, F., Fukushima, T. and Bond, P.L. (2010) Evidence for bacteriophage activity causing community and performance changes in a phosphorus-removal activated sludge, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 74(3):631-642
Bastidas-Oyanedel, J-R, Mohd-Zaki, Z., Pratt, S., Steyer, J-P, and Batstone, D.J. (2010) Development of membrane inlet mass spectrometry for examination of fermentation processes, Talanta, 83(2):482-492
Batstone, D.J., Balthes, C., and Barr, K. (2010) Model assisted startup of anaerobic digesters fed with thermally hydrolysed activated sludge, Water Science and Technology, 62(7):1661-1666
Boe, K., Batstone, D.J., Steyer, J.P., and Angelidaki, I. (2010) State indicators for monitoring the anaerobic digestion process, Water Research, 44(20):5973-5980
Carrère, H., Dumas, C., Battimelli, A., Batstone, D.J., Delgenès, J.P., Steyer, J.P., and Ferrer, I. (2010) Pretreatment methods to improve sludge anaerobic degradability: A review, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 183(1-3):1-15
Dennis, P.G., Miller, A.J., and Hirsch, P.R. (2010) Are root exudates more important than other sources of rhizodeposits in determining the structure of rhizosphere bacterial communities?, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 72:313-327
Dutta, P. K., Rabaey, K., Yuan, Z., Rozendal, R. A., and Keller, J. (2010) Electrochemical sulfide removal and recovery from paper mill anaerobic treatment effluent, Water Research, 44(8):2563-2571
Farré, M.J., Doederer, K., Hearn, L. Poussade, Y., Keller, J. and Gernjak, W. (2010) Understanding the parameters affecting NDMA formation at advanced water treatment plants, Journal of Hazardous Material, 185(2-3):1575-1581
Foley, J. M., Rozendal, R.A., Hertle, C.K., Lant, P.A. and Rabaey, K. (2010) Life cycle assessment of high-rate anaerobic treatment, microbial fuel cells, and microbial electrolysis cells, Environmental Science and Technology, 44:3629-3637
Foley, J., de Haas, D., Yuan, Z. and Lant, P. (2010) Nitrous oxide generation in full-scale biological nutrient removal wastewater treatment plants, Water Research, 44:831-844
Freguia, S., Teh, E.H., Boon, N., Leung, K.M., Keller, J. and Rabaey, K. (2010) Microbial fuel cells operating on mixed fatty acids, Bioresource Technology, 101:1233–1238
Cover of Nature Reviews - Microbiology
38 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Gao, Y.Q , Peng, Y.Z., Zhang, J.Y., Wang, J.L. and Ye, L (2010) Using excess sludge as carbon source for enhanced nitrogen removal and sludge reduction with hydrolysis technology, Water Science and Technology, 62 (7):1536-1543
Ge, H.Q., Jensen, P.D., Batstone, D.J. (2010) Pre-treatment mechanisms during thermophilic-mesophilic temperature phased anaerobic digestion of primary sludge, Water Research, 44(1):123-130
Guisasola, A. Marcelino, M., Lemaire, R. Baeza, J. A. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Modelling and simulation revealing mechanisms likely responsible for achieving the nitrite pathway through aeration control, Water Science and Technology, 61(6):1459-1465
Gutierrez, O., Park, D., Sharma, K. R., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Iron salts dosage for sulfide control in sewers induces chemical phosphorus removal during wastewater treatment, Water Research, 44(11):3467-3475
Gutierrez, O., Sutherland-Stacey, L., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Simultaneous online measurement of sulfide and nitrate in sewers for nitrate dosage optimisation, Water Science and Technology, 61(3):651-658
Hudson, J.E., Frith, J.E., Donose, B.C., Rondeau, E., Mills, R.J., Wolvetang, E., Brooke, G., and Cooper-White, J.J. (2010) A synthetic elastomer based on acrylated polypropylene glycol triol with tuneable modulus for tissue engineering applications, Biomaterials, 31(31):7937-7947
Jiang, G., Gutierrez, O., Sharma, K.R. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Effects of nitrite concentration and exposure time on sulfide and methane production in sewer systems, Water Research, 44(14):4241-4251
Lawrence, M.G., Keller, J. and Poussade, Y. (2010) Removal of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents through advanced water treatment plants, Water Science and Technology, 61:685-692
Macova, M., Escher, B.I., Reungoat, J., Carswell, S., Chue, K.L., Keller, J. and Mueller, J.F. (2010) Monitoring the biological activity of micropollutants during advanced wastewater treatment with ozonation and activated carbon filtration, Water Research, 44(2):477-492
Martinez, A., Tyson, G.W., and DeLong E.F. (2010) Widespread known and novel phosphonate utilization pathways in marine bacteria revealed by functional screening and metagenomic analyses, Environmental Microbiology, 12:222-238
Morgan-Sagatume, F., Karlsson, A., Johansson, P., Pratt, S., Boon, N., Lant, P., and Werker, A. (2010) Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates in open, mixed cultures from a waste sludge stream containing high levels of soluble organics, nitrogen and phosphorus, Water Research, 44(18):5196-5211
Mu, Y., Radjenovic, J., Shen, J., Rozendal, R.A., Mu Y., Rabaey, K., and Keller, J. (2010) Dehalogenation of iodinated X-ray contrast media in a bioelectrochemical system, Environmental Science and Technology, 45(2):782-788
Ort, C., Lawrence, M.G., Reungoat, J. and Mueller, J.F. (2010) Sampling for PPCPs in wastewater systems: A comparison of different sampling modes and optimization strategies, Environmental Science and Technology, 44(16):6289–6296
Ort, C., Lawrence, M.G., Reungoat, J., Eagelsham, G., Carter, S. and Keller, J. (2010) Determining the fraction of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater originating from a hospital, Water Research, 44(2):605-615
Pijuan, M. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Development and optimization of a sequencing batch reactor for nitrogen and phosphorus removal from abattoir wastewater to meet irrigation standards, Water Science and Technology, 61(8):2105-2112
Pijuan, M., Ye, L., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Free nitrous acid inhibition on the aerobic metabolism of Poly-phosphate accumulating organisms, Water Research, 44(20):6063-6072
Rabaey, K. and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Microbial electrosynthesis: Revisiting the electrical route for bioproduction, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 8:706-716
Rabaey, K., Buetzer, S., Brown, S., Keller, J. and Rozendal, R. (2010) High current generation coupled to caustic production using a lamellar bioelectrochemical system, Environmental Science and Technology, 44:4315-4321
Radjenovic, J., Bagastyo, A., Rozendal, R.A., Mu, Y., Keller, J., and Rabaey, K. (2010) Electrochemical oxidation of trace organic contaminants in reverse osmosis concentrate using RuO2/IrO2
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coated titanium anodes, Water Research, 45(4):1579-1586
Read, S.T., Dutta, P.K., Bond, P.L., Keller, J. and Rabaey, K. (2010) Initial development and structure of biofilms on microbial fuel cell anodes, BMC Microbiology, 10:art.no.98
Reungoat, J., Macova, M., Carswell, S., Escher, B.I., Mueller, J.F., Gernjak, W., and Keller, J. (2010) Effective removal of pathogens and micropollutants by ozone and GAC, Water, 37(1):69-72
Reungoat, J., Macova, M., Escher, B.I., Carswell, S., Mueller, J.F., and Keller, J. (2010) Removal of micropollutants and reduction of biological activity in a full scale reclamation plant using ozonation and activated carbon filtration, Water Research, 44(2):625-637
Reyes, A., Haynes, M., Hanson, N., Angly, F.E., Heath, A.C., Rohwer, F., and Gordon, J.I. (2010) Viruses in the faecal microbiota of monozygotic twins and their mothers, Nature, 466:334-338
Rodriguez-Brito, B., Li, L.L., Wegley, L., Furlan, M., Angly, F., Breitbart, M., Buchanan, J., Desnues, C., Dinsdale, E., Edwards, R., Felts, B., Haynes, M., Liu, H., Lipson, D., Mahaffy, J., Martin-Cuadrado, A.B., Mira, A., Nulton, J., Paši, L., Rayhawk, S., Rodriguez-Mueller, J., Rodriguez-Valera, F., Salamon, P., Srinagesh, S., Thingstad, T.F., Tran, T., Vega Thurber, R., Willner, D., Youle, M. and Rohwer, F. (2010) Viral and microbial community dynamics in four aquatic environments, The ISME Journal, 4:739-751
Seviour, T., Donose, B., Pijuan, M., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Purification and conformational analysis of a key exopolysaccharide component of mixed culture aerobic sludge granules, Environmental Science and Technology, 44(12):4729-4734
Seviour, T., Lambert, L., Pijuan, M., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Structural determination of a key exopolysaccharide in mixed culture aerobic sludge granules using NMR spectroscopy, Environmental Science and Technology, 44(23):8964-8970
Shi, Y., Tyson, G.W., Eppley, J.M. and DeLong, E.F. (2010) Integrated metatranscriptomic and metagenomic analyses of stratified microbial assemblages in the open ocean, The ISME Journal, doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.189:
Sirtori, C., Agüera, A., Gernjak, W., and Malato, S. (2010) Effect of water-matrix composition on Trimethoprim solar photodegradation kinetics and pathways., Water Research, 44:2735-2744
Slater, F.R., Bruce, K.D., Ellis, R.J., Lilley, A.K., and Turner, S.L. (2010) Determining the effects of a spatially heterogeneous selection pressure on the fitness of plasmid-carrying bacteria at the sub-millimetre scale, Microbial Ecology, 60(4):873-884
Slater, F.R., Johnson, C.R., Blackall, L.L., Beiko, R.G. and Bond, P.L. (2010) Monitoring associations between clade-level variation, overall community structure and ecosystem function in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems using terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), Water Research, 44(17):4908-4923
Thompson, J., Eaglesham, G., Reungoat, J., Poussade, Y., Bartkow, M., Lawrence, M., and Mueller, J.F. (2010) Removal of PFOS, PFOA and other perfluoroalkyl acids at water reclamation plants in South East Queensland Australia, Chemosphere, 82(1):9-17
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Virdis, B., Rabaey, K., Rozendal, R.A, Yuan, Z., and Keller, J. (2010) Simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and carbon removal in microbial fuel cells, Water Research, 44 (9):2970-2980
Virdis, B., Read, S.T., Rabaey, K., Rozendal, R.A., Yuan, Z. and Keller, J. (2011) Distribution of nitrifying and denitrifying organisms during simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) at a biocathode, Bioresource Technology, 102(1):334-341
Willner D., Furlan M., Schmieder R., Grasis J.A., Pride D.T., Relman D.A., Angly F.E., McDole T., Mariella R.P., Rohwer F., and Haynes M. (2010) Metagenomic detection of phage-encoded platelet-binding factors in the human oral cavity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1000089107:
Wright, C.M., Larsen, J.E., Colosimo, M.L., Barr, J.J., Chen, L., McLachlan, R.E., Yang, I.A., Bowman, R.V., and Fong, K.M. (2010) Genetic association study of CYP1A1 polymorphisms identifies risk haplotypes in nonsmall cell lung cancer, European Respiratory Journal, 35 (1):152-159
Wrighton, K., Virdis, B., Clauwaert, P., Read, S., Boon, N., Keller, J., Anderson, G.T., Coates, J.D., and Rabaey, K. (2010) Biological nitrate reduction using electrical current: microbial communities and key players, The ISME Journal, 4(11):1443-55
Ye, L., Pijuan, M., and Yuan, Z. (2010) The effect of free nitrous acid on the anabolic and catabolic processes of glycogen accumulating organisms, Water Research, 44(9):2901-2909
Yilmaz, S., Haroon, M.F., Rabkin, B.A., Tyson, G.W. and Hugenholtz, P. (2010) Fixation-free fluorescence in situ hybridization for targeted enrichment of microbial populations, The ISME Journal, 4:1352-1356
Zhang, L., Keller, J., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Ferrous salt demand for sulfide control in rising main sewers: tests on a laboratory scale sewer system, ASCE Journal of Environmental Engineering, 136(10):1180-1187
Zhao, B.H., Mu, Y., Dong, F., Ni B.J., Zhao, J.B., Sheng, G.P., Yu, H.Q., Li, Y.Y., and Harada, H. (2010) Dynamic modelling the anaerobic reactor start-up process, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 49(16):7193-7200
Zhou, Y., Ganda, L., Lim, M., Yuan, Z., Kjelleberg, S., and Ng, W.J. (2010) Free nitrous acid (FNA) inhibition on denitrifying poly-phosphate accumulating organisms (DPAOs), Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 88(1):359-369
Zhou, Y., Pijuan, M., Oehmen, A., and Yuan, Z. (2010) The source of reducing power in the anaerobic metabolism of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs): A mini-review, Water Science and Technology, 61(7):1653-1662
Non-refereed Articles
Batstone, D.J. (2010) Approaching anaerobic digestion with a view to resource recovery, IWA Yearbook, 2010, 43-45
Rabaey, K., Johnstone, A.J., Wise, A., Read, S.T., and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Microbial electrosynthesis - From electricity to biofuels and biochemicals, Biotechnology International, July
Conference Papers
Antony, P.J., Keller, J., and Bond, P.L. (2010) Examination of concrete corrosion using a laboratory experimental set up simulating sewer conditions, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Arcos-Hernandez, M.V., Pratt, S., and Lant, P. (2010) Novel direct accumulation of PHA from waste activated sludge, International Symposium on Biopolymers Proceedings, October 3-7, Stuttgart, Germany.
Bar, J.J., Fukushima, T., Haiste, M., Plan, M.R., Gorman, J. and Bond, P.L. (2010) Community proteomics highlights extra-cellular differences between granular and floccular sludge, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Barr, J.J (2010) Metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic comparison of floccular and granular sludges, AusBiotech2010, October 19-22, Melbourne, Australia
Batstone D.J., Jensen, P.D. and Ge, H. (2010) Comparison of methods to assess biosolids anaerobic degradation rate and extent, AWA Biosolids Specialty Conference V, June 2-4, Sydney, Australia
Batstone, D.J. (2010) Anaerobic digestion of complex organic waste: perspectives and opportunities, International workshop on anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse waste, June 9-11, Barcelona, Spain
Batstone, D.J. (2010) Workshop 6: Towards a generalised physisochemical framework, WWTmod 2nd IWA/WEF Wastewater treatment modelling seminar, March 28-30, Quebec, Canada
Batstone, D.J., Amerlinck, Y., Ekama, G., Goel, R., Grau, P., Johnson, B., Kaya, I., Steyer, J.P., Takacs, I., Vanrolleghem, P.A., and Volcke, E. (2010) Towards a generalized physicochemical framework, 83rd Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference, October 2-6, New Orleans, USA
Birchall, S., Batstone, D.J., and Gopalan, P. (2010) Biogas production from a covered Ananerobic Lagoon; Analysis of data from Bears Lagoon Piggery, Bioenergy Australia, December 8-10, Sydney, Australia
Bond, P.L. (2010) Aerobic granular biofilms, the next big hing in activated sludge, 51st Annual Australian Society of Microbiology Conference, July 4-8, Sydney, Australia
Bonmati, A., Mu, Y., Rozendal, R.A., Keller, J., and Rabaey, K. (2010) Oxalate degradation in a bioelectrochemical system, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Cayford, B.I., Bond P.L., Keller, J., and Tyson, G.W. (2010) Microbial community composition of sulfide oxidising biofilms responsible for sewer corrosion, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Cayford, B.I., Tyson, G.W., Keller, J., and Bond, P.L. (2010) Microbial community composition of biofilms associated with sewer corrosion, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Cirne, D., Pratt, S., Lant, P., and Batstone, B.J. (2010) Microbial community analysis during continuous fermentation of thermally hydrolysed waste, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Coma, M., Verawaty, M., Yuan, Z., Pijuan, M., and Bond, P. (2010) Application of the aerobic granular technology to treat domestic wastewater for biological nutrient removal, AWA Ozwater Convention and Exhibition, March 8-10, Brisbane, Australia
Corrie, S., Sharma, K.,Wilson, M., Sikdar, S. and Zieberth, K. (2010) Odour mitigation in the Elanora catchment using model-based network chemical dosing, AWA Ozwater Convention and Exhibition, March 8-10, Brisbane, Australia
Corrie, S., Sharma, K.R., and Fillmore, D. (2010) Chemical dosing recommendations for odour and corrosion control at the Sandstone-Ningi network, using sulfide modelling, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Corrie, S.K., Sharma K.R., Sikder, S., Wilson, M., and Ziebarth, K. (2010) Odour and corrosion mitigation in the Elanora catchment using model- based network chemical dosing, 7th IWA Leading-Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies, June 2-5, Phoenix, USA
Crichton, M.L., Donose, B.C.; Chen, X., Han, H. and Kendal, M.A.F. (2010) Determining sub-cellular scale elastic moduli within individual skin layers using AFM indentation and their importance for targeted drug delivery, 6th World Congress on Biomechanics, August 1-6, Singapore
Döderer, K., Hearn, L., Gernjak, W., Keller, J., Poussade, Y., and Farré M-J (2010) Fate of NDMA and its precursors across UF/RO membranes during the production of high quality recycled water, Membranes in the Production of Drinking and Industrial Water, June 27-30, Trondheim, Norway
Farré, M.J., Weinberg, H.S., Lyon, B., Poussade, Y., Keller, J., and Gernjak, W. (2010) Fate of disinfection by-products & their precursors across reverse osmosis membranes when producing high quality recycled water, Water Quality Technology Conference and Exposition, November 14-18, Savannah, USA
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Fogelman, S. (2010) Evaluation of on-line monitoring sensors for ensuring watquality of new water sources and systems, AWA Ozwater Convention and Exhibition, March 8-10, Brisbane, Australia
Gabarró, J., Ganigué, R., Ruscalleda, M., Balaguer, M.D., and Colprim, J. (2010) Temperature effects on partial nitritation treating extremely high ammonium levels of landfill leachate, Enzymology and ecology of the nitrogen cycle - Biochemical Society, September 15-17, Birmingham, UK
Ge, H.Q., Jensen, P.D., and Batstone, D.J. (2010) Relative kinetics of anaerobic digestion under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Gopalan, P., Jensen, P.D, and Batstone, D.J. (2010) Overcoming Performance Barriers: Low-Cost Applications of AD to Livestock Waste, 1st Methane to Markets Partnership Expo, March 2-5, Delhi, India
Gutierrez, O., Sudarjanto, G., Sharma, K.R., and Yuan, Z. (2010) SCORe-CT: a new method for testing effectiveness of sulfide-control chemicals used in sewer systems, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Gutierrez, O., Sudarjanto, G., Sharma, K.R., Keller, J., and Yuan, Z. (2010) SCORe-CT: A new method for testing effectiveness of sulfide-control chemicals used in sewer systems, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Hill, B., Pijuan, M., Werner, U. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Effect of free nitrous acid on nitrous oxide production by a full-scale denitrifying sludge, 7th IWA Leading-Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies, June 2-5, Phoenix, USA
Hines, M.J., Donose, B.C., Green, D., and Cooper-White, J.J. (2010) Bulk adsorption vs. microfluidic deposition of a four protein mixture: A dynamic force spectroscopy study, 21st Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis, July 11-15, Brisbane, Australia
Jensen, P., Ge, H. and Batstone, D.J (2010) Assessing the role of biochemical methane potential tests in determining anaerobic degradability rate and extent, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Jiang, G., Gutierrez, O., Sharma, K.R., Keller, J. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Free nitrous acid controls sulfide and methane production in rising main sewers, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Keller J., Mu Y., Radjenovic J., Rozendal R.A., and Rabaey K. (2010) Dehalogenation of iodinated X-ray contrast media in a bioelectrochemical system, 61st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, September 26-October 1, Nice, France
Keller, J. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Wastewater treatment and greenhouse gas emissions, 7th IWA Leading-Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies, June 2-5, Phoenix, USA
Keller, J., Mu, Y., Radjenovic, J., Rozendal, R.A., and Rabaey, K. (2010) Dehalogenation of iodinated X-Ray contrast media in a bioelectrochemical system, 61st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, September 26-October 1, Nice, France
Keymer, P., Pratt, S. and Lant, P. (2010) Increasing anaerobic methane production from algal biomass by pretreatment, Bioenergy Australia, December 8-10, Sydney, Australia
Lane, J., de Haas, D., and Lant, P. (2010) Life Cycle Impacts of the Gold Coast Urban Water Cycle, AWA Ozwater Convention and Exhibition, March 8-10, Brisbane, Australia
Lane, J., de Haas, D., and Lant, P. (2010) Life Cycle Analysis of the Gold Coast Urban Water Cycle, Science Form of the Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA), September 28-29, Brisbane, Australia
Le Corre, K., Ort, C. and Keller J. (2010) Pharmaceutical audit data from hospital, Science Form of the Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA), September 28-29, Brisbane, Australia
Lu, Y., Slater, F.R., Mohd-Zaki, Z., Pratt, S., and Batstone, D.J. (2010) Impact of operating history on mixed culture fermentation microbial ecology and product mixture, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Mehta, C. (2010) Application of digestate for agriculture application in Australia: Opportunities and challenges, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Mu, Y., Rozendal, R.A., Rabaey, K., and Keller, J. (2010) Removal of recalcitrant organic pollutants from wastewater in a bioelectrochemical system, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Mu, Y., Rozendal, R.A., Rabaey, K., and Keller, J. (2010) Electrochemically active bacteria assisted nitrobenzene removal from wastewater, 14th International Biotechnology Symposium and Exhibition, September 14-18, Italy
Pervin, H., Lim, H.J., Tyson, G.W., Batstone, D.J., and Bond, P.L. (2010) Evaluation of Bacterial community structure and dynamics in mesophilic and thermophilic pretreatment of two stage anaerobic digestion, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Pijuan, M, Liu, Y. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Could nitrite/free nitrous acid favour GAOs over PAOs in enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems?, IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition, September 19–24, Montréal, Canada
Pikaar, I. (2010) High rate electrochemical sulfide removal from synthetic feed and real domestic wastewater, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Pikaar, I. (2010) High rate electrochemical sulfide removal from synthetic feed and real domestic wastewater, 61st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, September 26 - October 1, Nice, France
Pratt, S., Werker, A., Morgan-Sagastume, F., and Lant, P. (2010) Microaerophilic conditions support elevated mixed culture PHA yields, but result in decreased PHA production rates, IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition, September 19-24, Montréal, Canada
Rabaey, K. (2010) Electrical current sustains highly diverse denitrifying and bioproduction communities, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Rabaey, K. and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Caustic soda and hydrogen peroxide from pulp & paper wastewater, Australian Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Association, April 19-20, Melbourne, Australia
Rabaey, K. and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Energy efficient production of caustic soda from wastewater using bioelectrochemical systems, Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society, March 21-25, San Francisco, USA
Radjenovic, J., Bagastyo, A., Mu, Y., Rozendal, R.A., and Rabaey, K. (2010) Electrochemical treatment of reverse osmosis concentrate, 2nd Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry: South-East Europe, June 6-10, Belgrade, Serbia
Rattier, M., Fudianto, R., Antony, A., Farré, M.J., Leslie, G., Poussade, Y., Keller, J. and Gernjak, W. (2010) Change of performance and properties of reverse osmosis membranes after exposure to free chlorine, Membranes in the Production of Drinking and Industrial Water, June 27-30, Trondheim, Norway
Rattier, M., Reungoat, J., Tyson, G., Yang, Q., Gernjak, W., and Keller, J. (2010) Fundamental investigation on biological activated carbon, Science Form of the Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA), September 28-29, Brisbane, Australia
Read, S.T., Turner, S., Lau, K., Pichler, F.P., Keller, J., and Rabaey, K (2010) Coculture response of Enterococcus faecium and Gram negatives during current generation, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Reungoat, J., Escher, B.I., Macova, M., Gernjak, W. and Keller, J. (2010) Removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products, reduction of estrogenicity and toxicity in full-scale water reclamation plants based on ozonation and biological activated carbon filtration, 3rd Australian Symposium on Ecological Risk Assessment and Management of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in the Australasian Environment, November 10-11, Canberra, Australia
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Reungoat, J., Gernjak, W. and Keller, J. (2010) Removal of trace organic chemicals from secondary effluents by ozone/biological activated carbon treatments in Australia, Water Reuse and Desalination: Water Scarcity Solutions for the 21st Century, November 15-17, Sydney, Australia
Rootsey, R. and Yuan, Z. (2010) New insights into sewer odour and corrosion, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Rootsey, R., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Sewer Odour & Corrosion Research (SCORe) Project – Delivering Outcomes to the Water Industry, AWA Sustainable Infrastructure and Asset Management Conference, November 23-24, Sydney, Australia
Sharma K. R., Gutierrez, O., Corrie, S. K., and Yuan, Z. (2010) Investigation of the effects of chemical dosing in sewer using integrated modelling of sewer system and wastewater treatment plant, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Sharma, G., Shon, H.K., Aryal, R., and Phuntsho, S. (2010) Profiles performance evaluation of microfiltration with electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation pretreatment, 7th International Membrane Science and Technology Conference, November 22-26, Sydney, Australia
Sharma, K. R., Gutierrez O., Corrie S., O’Halloran K., Capati B. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Integrated modelling of biotransformation processes in sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants for optimising chemical dosing to sewer networks, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Sharma, K.R. and Yuan, Z. (2010) Kinetics of chemical sulfide oxidation under high dissolved oxygen levels, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Shaw, A., Coleman, P., Nolasco, D., Rosso, D., Yuan, Z., van Loosdrecht, M.C.M., Shiskowski, D., Chandran, K., Houweling, D., Willis, J., Beecher, N., Corominas, Ll., Siegrist, H., Porro, J., and Nopens, I. (2010) Workshop Summary: The Role of Modelling in Assessing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, 83rd Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference, October 2-6, New Orleans, USA
Slater, F.R. (2010) Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) bacterial communities: Model systems for microbial ecology studies, 51st Annual Australian Society of Microbiology Conference, July 4-8, Sydney, Australia
Slater, F.R., Johnson, C.R., Blackall, L.L., Beiko, R, and Bond, P.L. (2010) Clade-level variation in key bacteria is associated with community composition and ecosystem function in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems, IWA Water Research Conference, April 11-14, Lisbon, Portugal
Slater, F.R., Johnson, C.R., Blackall, L.L., Beiko, R.G., Lu, Y. and Bond, P.L. (2010) Relating bacterial community structure to process performance in laboratory-scale enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Slater, F.R., Singer, A., Turner, S., Barr, J.J., and Bond, P.L. (2010) Evidence for disrupted performance of wastewater treatment while simulating high-level community use of antiviral and antibiotic drugs, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Sudarjanto, G., Gutierrez, O., Sharma, K.R. and Yuan, Z. (2010) A laboratory assessment of the impact of brewery wastewater discharge on sulfide and methane production in a sewer, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Vargas, M., Yuan, Z., and Pijuan, M. (2010) The effect of long starvation conditions on PAO and GAO cultures, IWA Water Research Conference, April 11-14, Lisbon, Portugal
Verawaty, M. Coma, M. Yuan, Z., Pijuan, M., Bond, P.L. (2010) Application of aerobic granular technology to treat domestic wastewater for biological nutrient removal, AWA Ozwater Convention and Exhibition, March 8-10, Brisbane, Australia
Verawaty, M. Yuan, Z., Pijuan, M., Bond, P.L. (2010) Use of fluorescent microbeads to understand aerobic granule formation for activated sludge wastewater treatment, 13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
Virdis, B., Rabaey, K., Rozendal, R.A., Keller, J. (2010) Bioelectrochemical Nitrogen and COD removal from synthetic wastewater, 12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
Virdis, B., Rabaey, K., Rozendal, R.A., Yuan, Z.G., Mu, Y., and Keller, J. (2010) Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification (SND) at a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Biocathode, 14th International Biotechnology Symposium and Exhibition, September 14-18, Italy
Yuan, Z. (2010) Corrosion and odour management in sewers – recent advances and key knowledge gaps. Keynote speech, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Yuan, Z., Sharma. K. R., Gutierrez, O., Rootsey, R. and Keller, J. (2010) Corrosion and odour management in sewers: recent advances and key knowledge gaps, 6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
Book Chapters
Fukushima, T. and Bond P.L.(2010) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Technology In: Microbial Ecology of Activated Sludge. R. Seviour and P. Halkjær Nielsen (eds), IWA Publishing, 350-359
Freguia, S. (2010) Organics oxidation, In: Bioelectrochemical Systems. From extracellular electron transfer to biotechnologycal application, IWA Publishing, ISBN: 9781843392330.
Barr, J. J., Cook, A. E., Fukushima, T. and Bond P.L. (2010) Clone Library Generation In: Microbial Ecology of Activated Sludge. R. Seviour and P. Halkjær Nielsen (eds.), IWA Publishing, 360-370
Fogelman, S.(2010) Technology Career Spotlight: Developing a Dynamic Environmental Calibration Technology For Cost Effective Online Water Quality Monitoring, In: Women in Engineering Science and Technology: Education and Career Challenges, IGI-Global, USA, ISBN 978-1-61520-658
Reports
Farré, M.J., Doederer, K., Keller J., Poussade, Y., Mueller, J., and Gernjak, W. (2010) N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in Purified Recycled Water, Final project report, SEQ Urban Water Security Research Alliance
Patents
Pijuan, M., Yuan, Z., and Johns, M. (2010) Reducing the start up time of aerobic granular sludge reactors treating nutrient rich wastewater, 2010900901
Yuan, Z. (2010) Pre-treatment of sludge, 2010901789
Yuan, Z. (2010) Production of nitrite, 2010901787
Yuan, Z. (2010) Treatment of membrane used in water treatment, 2010901792
Yuan, Z., Jiang, G. and Gutierrez, O. (2010) Control of bacterial activity, such as in sewers and wastewater treatment systems, 2010901790
Rozendal, R.A. and Rabaey, K. (2010) Process for the production of chemicals, WO2010068994
Rabaey, K. and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Production of methanol or methanol derivatives, WO2010068979
Rabaey, K. and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Production of hydrogen peroxide, WO 2010/042986
Rabaey, K. and Rozendal, R.A. (2010) Treatment of solutions or wastewater, WO 2010/042987
42 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Conference Participation
New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium, February 12, Auckland, New Zealand
1st Methane to Markets Partnership Expo Proceedings, March 2-5, Delhi, India
AWA Ozwater Convention and Exhibition, March 8-10, Brisbane, Australia
Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society, March 21-25, San Francisco, USA
2nd IWA/WEF Wastewater Treatment Modelling Seminar, March 28-30, Quebec, Canada
IWA Water Research Conference, April 11-14, Lisbon, Portugal
Australian Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Association, April 19-20, Melbourne, Australia
110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, May 24-27, San Diego, USA
AWA Biosolids Specialty Conference V, June 2-4, Sydney, Australia
7th IWA Leading-Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies, June 2-5, Phoenix, USA
2nd Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry: South-East Europe, June 6-10, Belgrade, Serbia
International workshop on anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse waste, June 9-11, Barcelona, Spain
Pan Pacific Pork Expo 2010, June 16-17, Gold Coast, Australia
Membranes in the Production of Drinking and Industrial Water, June 27-30, Trondheim, Norway
51st Annual Australian Society of Microbiology Conference, July 4-8, Sydney, Australia
21st Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis, July 11-15, Brisbane, Australia
6th World Congress on Biomechanics, August 1-6, Singapore
13th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, August 22-27, Seattle, USA
AWA Specialty Conference: Odours 2010, August 24-25, Sydney, Australia
14th International Biotechnology Symposium and Exhibition, September 14-18, Italy
IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition, September 19-24, Montréal, Canada
61st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, September 26-October 1, Nice, France
Science Form of the Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA), September 28-29, Brisbane, Australia
83rd Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference, October 2-6, New Orleans, USA
International Symposium on Biopolymers Proceedings, October 3-7, Stuttgart, Germany
UK-Australia Frontier of Sciences – Marine Science, October 9-13, Perth, Australia
AusBiotech 2010, October 19-22, Melbourne, Australia
12th World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, October 31-November 4, Guadalajara, Mexico
6th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks, November 7-10, Gold Coast, Australia
3rd Australian Symposium on Ecological Risk Assessment and Management of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in the Australasian Environment, November 10-11, Canberra, Australia
Water Quality Technology Conference and Exposition, November 14-18, Savannah, USA
Water Reuse and Desalination: Water Scarcity Solutions for the 21st Century, November 15-17, Sydney, Australia
6th Conference of the Aseanian Membrane Society, November 22-26, Sydney, Australia
7th International Membrane Science and Technology Conference, November 22-26, Sydney, Australia
AWA Sustainable Infrastructure and Asset Management Conference, November 23-24, Sydney, Australia
Bioenergy Australia, December 8-10, Sydney, Australia
AWMC Annual Report 2010 43
Con
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nce
Par
ticip
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Acting Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Annastacia Palaszczuk, visits AWMC Labs
2010 Seminars
Prof Nazim Cicek, University of Manitoba, Canada, Membrane related activities in wastewater treatment and biofuel and bioenergy research projects, 18 January
Dr Markus Röhricht, University of Applied Sciences Giessen-Friedberg, Germany, Elimination of pharmaceuticals from wastewater - Do we need additional treatment steps on our wastewater treatment plants?, 29 January
Dr Florent Angly, AWMC, Characterization of environmental viral diversity using high throughput metagenomics, 29 January
Prof Christof Holliger, EPFL, Switzerland, Reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes, 5 February
Ms Yingyu Law, AWMC, Confirmation seminar: Understanding fugitive nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment systems, 12 February
Prof David Sedlak, UC Berkeley, USA, Is potable water reuse a viable solution to urban water shortages?, 19 February
Dr Chirag Mehta, AWMC, Importance of protein-protein interactions on protein crystallisation, 26 February
Mr Ray Rootsey, AWMC, ARC sewer corrosion & odour research (SCORe) linkage project – Summary of year 1 outcomes, 26 February
Mr Barry Cayford, AWMC, Confirmation seminar: Investigation of microbial biofilms responsible for sewer corrosion, 4 March
Ms Natacha Juste-Poinapen, AWMC, Confirmation seminar: Microbiology and genetics of interspecies electron transfer, 12 March
Prof David J. Richardson, University of East Anglia, UK, Mitigating release of the potent greenhouse gas N2O from the nitrogen cycle – Could enzymic regulation hold the key?, 22 March
Dr Christoph Ort, AWMC, Tapping into sewers, 9 April
Ms Yeting Niu, AWMC, Confirmation seminar: Understanding competition between sulfate-reducing Bacteria (SRB) and methanogenic Archaea (MA) under different conditions in sewer rising main, 16 April
Dr Fran Slater, AWMC, Clade-level variation in key bacteria is associated with community composition and ecosystem function in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems, 23 April
Dr Marc Pidou, AWMC, Hybrid membrane processes for wastewater treatment, 23 April
Dr Ramon Ganigué Pagès, AWMC, Completely autotrophic nitrogen removal from urban landfill leachate, 30 April
Ms Lauren Bragg, AWMC, Confirmation seminar: Development of computational and statistical methods for the analysis of microbial community sequence data, 7 May
Dr Bogdan Donose, AWMC, Atomic force microscopy, alpinism at nanoscale, 14 May
Ms Hoai Tran, AWMC, Confirmation seminar: Physical and chemical investigations of corrosion processes in concrete sewer pipes, 25 May
Dr Afreen Siddiqi, MIT, USA, Uncovering inter-system linkages for sustainable designs and decisions, 4 June
Mr Mohamed Haroon, AWMC, Molecular characterisation of microbial communities performing anaerobic methane driven denitrification, 4 June
Prof Zhiguo Yuan, AWMC, Fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater systems: AWMC research as part of a global effort, 11 June
Dr Phil Bond, AWMC, Investigating the impact of pandemic levels of an antiviral drug on wastewater treatment, 11 June
Mr Ronald Niermans and Mr Luc Kox, DHV, Australia, A new standard for sustainable and cost-effective waste water treatment, 25 June
Dr Kristell Le Corre, AWMC, Understanding struvite crystallisation, 2 July
Dr Liu Ye, AWMC, Optimization control of biological nitrogen removal process in saline wastewater treatment based on energy saving, 2 July
Mr Arseto Bagastyo, AWMC, Electrochemical treatment of reverse osmosis concentrates, 30 July
Ms Zuhaida Mohd-Zaki, AWMC, Effect of ph on product spectrum in mixed culture fermentation (MCF), 6 August
Dr Elizabeth Baggs, University of Aberdeen, UK, Soil microbial sources of N2O: Current state of knowledge and future challenges, 6 August
A/Prof Damien Batstone, AWMC, Anaerobic digestion of complex feeds: Perspectives & opportunities, 13 August
Dr Steven Pratt, AWMC, Project NEPTUNE: Using biosolids as a resource for energy generation and biopolymer production, 13 August
Prof Kenneth Nealson, University of Southern California, USA, Microbial ecology to bioproduction Symposium - Extracellular electron transport: What it is, what it means, and what it may mean when we understand it, 18 August
Dr Phil Hugenholtz, Joint Genome Institute, USA, Microbial ecology to bioproduction Symposium - Boring spirochetes might be interesting for biofuel production, 18 August
Dr Gene Tyson, AWMC, Microbial ecology to bioproduction Symposium - From meta’omics to single cell genomics, 18 August
44 AWMC Annual Report 2010
Sem
inar
s
Dr Ulrike Kappler, SCMB UQ, Microbial ecology to bioproduction Symposium - Stressed out? - Sulfur oxidising bacteria in soils, 18 August
Prof Lars Nielsen, AIBN UQ, Microbial ecology to bioproduction Symposium - Microbial systems biology, 18 August
Dr Peer Schenk, UQ, Microbial ecology to bioproduction Symposium - Algal selection for bioproduction, 18 August
Dr Maria José Farré, AWMC, Disinfection by-products in the western corridor recycled water project context-results from my stay at the University of North Carolina, 20 August
Dr Jelena Radjenovic, AWMC, Electrochemical oxidation of trace organic contaminants in reverse osmosis concentrate using RUO2/IRO2- coated titanium anodes, 20 August
Prof Jurg Keller, AWMC, The case for resource recovery from wastewater – Still strong?, 27 August
Dr Adriano Joss, Eawag, Switzerland, One year sabbatical at AWMC after ten years working at EAWAG, 27 August
Mr Francois-Xavier Argaud, Universite Joseph Fourier, France, Advanced treatment of domestic wastewater treatment plant effluents with biofiltration: Removal of organic matter and reduction of disinfection by products formation potential, 10 September
Dr Eugena Li, AWMC, Heterogeneous catalyzed transesterification for biodiesel production, 10 September
Dr René Rozendal, AWMC, Bioelectrochemical systems: Past, present, and future, 17 September
Dr Paul Dennis, AWMC, Unravelling the biology of engineered systems, 17 September
Mr Ilje Pikaar, AWMC, Electrochemical sulfide abatement in sewers, 24 September
Dr Gatut Sudarjanto, AWMC, Field and laboratory testing of chemical additives and biomaterials for H2S and odorous compounds control, 24 September
Ms Yuting Pan, AWMC, Understanding nitrous oxide accumulation during denitrification in wastewater treatment, 1 October
Mr Jeremy Barr, AWMC, Metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic comparison of floccular and granular sludges, 8 October
Dr Shelley Brown, AWMC, How do microorganisms that are only capable of ‘direct electron transfer’ survive and multiply on a conductive surface? (A slightly provocative modelling approach), 8 October
Dr Romain Lemaire, Veolia Water, France, Veolia research activities on advanced N-removal processes for N-rich sidestream effluents, 22 October
Dr Korneel Rabaey, AWMC, Microbial electrosynthesis: Electricity driven bioproduction, 22 October
Mr Michael Imelfort, AWMC, A birds eye view of sequence assemblers, 29 October
Prof Dong-Jin Kim, Hallym University, Korea, Biodegradaton of monoethanolamine (MEA) in a nuclear power plant wastewater, 29 October
Mr Alexander Wise, AWMC, Electricity driven production of 1,3-propanediol by mixed populations, 5 November
Dr Antony Joseph, AWMC, Elemental sulfur formation in concrete sewer pipes, 5 November
Dr Florent Angly, AWMC, Viruses in the faecal microbiota of monozygotic twins and their mothers, 12 November
Dr Keshab Sharma, AWMC, Kinetics of chemical sulfide oxidation under high dissolved oxygen levels, 12 November
Dr Guangming Jiang, AWMC, Control of sulfide and methane production in sewers using nitrate and nitrite, 19 November
Dr Julien Reungoat, AWMC, Removal of organic micropollutants from WWTP effluents in reclamation plants using the ozonation/biological activated carbon process, 19 November
Prof Gerard Muyzer, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, Ecology and biotechnology of haloalkaliphilic sulfur bacteria, 26 November
Dr Robbert Kleerebezem, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, Microbial community engineering (MCE) for bioplastic production, 26 November
Dr Andrea Radu, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, Modelling of biofouling in reverse osmosis membrane processes, 30 November
Prof Roger Ben Aim, Institute Nationale Scientifique Applique, France, Membrane fouling in MBR: trying to understand, 3 December
Dr Virginie Rossard, National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), France, R software - your data deserves the best!, 10 December
Ms Chrystelle Ayache, AWMC, Assessment of the impact of the biological pre-treatment on membrane fouling and micropollutant rejection, 13 December
Dr Rupak Aryal, AWMC, Dynamic behaviour of suspended solids and particle-associated micropollutants in highway runoff, 17 December
Mr Subash Sukumar, AWMC, Reverse osmosis membranes performance in accelerated ageing, 17 December
Advanced Water Management CentreLevel 4 Gehrmann Building (60)
Research Road, St. Lucia CampusThe University of QueenslandBrisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Telephone: +61 7 3365 4730 Facsimile: +61 7 3365 4726
Website: www.awmc.uq.edu.auEmail: awmc@awmc.uq.edu.au
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