MARCH 2007 NEWS

The EWRE section is currently working with other leading universities and research organizations in SE England to develop HYDRA

Dr Stephen Smith returned this month from a 7 week visit to Australia. He was hosted by Dr Deb Pritchard at the Curtin University of Technology, Perth, who is project leader for the Western Australian component of the National Biosolids Research Programme. His visit was intended to develop links with the Water Utilities and Waste Management sector in Australia, and to provide an opportunity to complete several papers for submission to international journals.

During his visit he also worked with Dr Simon Toze and Karen Schwarz in the Land and Water section of CSIRO at the Floreat laboratory, on the application of molecular methods for detection of enteroviruses in sewage sludge. Dr Smith is Senior Technical Adviser to a project on Pathogen risk and nutrient status of air-dried and stored biosolids, recently awarded by the Smart Water Fund, in the State of Victoria, and is working in collaboration with Dr Judy Blackbeard, CRC Water Quality & Treatment and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (School of Applied Sciences), Melbourne Water Corporation and South East Water Limited. His visit enabled initial project discussions with the collaborators and site visits to be completed in Melbourne. Dr Smith gave several invited presentations on his latest research on biosolids management to Sydney Water, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Forest Science Centre at West Pennant Hills, Sydney and the Institute of Sustainable Water Resources in the Civil Engineering Department at Monash University, Melbourne, and to the NSW Branch of the Waste Management Association of Australia on compost contamination issues and related recent developments with the UK Compost Protocol. He also visited field experiments on open-cast mine sites in the north Sydney area with Dr Georgina Kelly of DPI, who is testing restoration techniques using biosolids and municipal composted products for tree establishment. 

During his stay in Perth he met with the Water Corporation of Western Australia and the Chemistry Centre (WA) in Perth to establish links between this organisations and Imperial College. The visit to Australia was partially supported by a International Travel Grant from The Royal Academy of Engineering.

The EWRE section is currently working with other leading universities and research organizations in SE England to develop HYDRA, which will have a public launch in October. HYDRA is the HYDrosciences Research Association for strategic multi-disciplinary research in water science, policy and management. Chaired by Howard Wheater, it's main objective is to undertake strategic research through collaboration between member organisations, policy makers and industry. Membership comprises water science research groups from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the British Geological Survey, Imperial College London, Queen Mary College, University of London, University College London, and the universities of Reading and Oxford.

Please see the following link for more information on Hydra