Project description
This project is supported by major water utilities in Australia in association with Water Research Australia.- Water reclaimed from wastewater (sewage) is being increasingly recognised as an important resource, and the agricultural sector is currently the largest consumer of this resource. Cyanobacterial (blue-green algae) blooms and their toxins are a common occurrence in wastewater storages that are being used to supply irrigation water for food crops.
- Cyanobacterial toxin contamination from wastewater can occur on the external surfaces of the irrigated plants. Washing the product prior to consumption may reduce the risk of exposure to the consumer. Furthermore, over the last 10 years, cyanobacterial toxin uptake and internalisation by plants irrigated with wastewater containing cyanobacterial toxins has emerged as a health concern.
- A review of literature was unable to find an up-to-date inventory of wastewater use on crops in Australia. An interactive database of resilient water resources including recycled water (and desalination) plants, which is currently managed by the Australian Government’s Bureau of Meteorology through its annual collection of performance data from water utilities Site explorer: Climate Resilient Water Resources: Water Information: Bureau of Meteorology (bom.gov.au) was last updated in 2015 due to difficulties in securing data from operators. Further, while this site provided information on occurrence of wastewater recycling there was no detail about what was irrigated and how it was used.
- This research project will require the student to undertake a survey, approved by the university ethics committee, to gather information about wastewater treatment plants that produce wastewater for re-use on food crops and pasture. This will include but not limited to: size of treatment plant; wastewater volume reused for irrigation, raw wastewater chemistry (including toxins), treatment processes; final recycled water chemistry (including toxins); irrigation operation; infrastructure and procedures; incidents of cyanobacteria blooms in storages; variety of crops irrigated for human consumption (area and mass); irrigated pastures (area and grazing animals); activity in storages during winter months.
Co-supervisors
Prof Kathleen Soole (College of Science and Engineering), Dr Arash Zamyadi (Water Research Australia) & Dr Peter Hobson (SA Water Corporation)
Industry involvement
Australian water utilities including SA Water
Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.