Civil and Environmental Engineering
Access to clean water, the essence of life, faces an alarming scarcity that poses a critical threat to humanity. Urbanization's surge and population growth have exacerbated the strain on clean water availability, heightening the imperative for wastewater treatment and recycling. Innovative green wall systems, representing on-site technologies for greywater treatment and reuse, hold immense promise. These systems offer an array of benefits to the environment, encompassing cooling, noise reduction, aesthetic enhancement, and more, while concurrently serving as a dependable alternative water resource. Yet, a formidable challenge emerges in the need to ingeniously engineer green wall systems capable of efficiently removing an extensive array of pollutants, including pathogens, nutrients, microplastics, and emerging contaminants originating from household chemical use, such as dyes, detergents, and personal care products.
School
Research Area
Water Treatment | Nature-Based Solutions | Green Infrastructure
- Research Environment
- Expected Outcomes
- Supervisory team
- Reference Material/Links
Embark on hands-on research in the ongoing green wall initiative at the esteemed Water Research Laboratory (Manly Vale Campus). Gain experience in analyzing diverse pollutants in greywater and wastewater. Acquire essential chemical analysis skills in the well-equipped Water Research Centre labs (Kensington Campus). The student will be supervised by a team with an exceptional research competency coupled with an appreciated vision to achieve a global impact of their proposed research.
This research endeavor aspires to advance the design of green wall systems tailored for effective pollutant removal from greywater. As a participant, you will contribute to:
- Elevating the efficacy of green wall configurations, optimizing pollutant removal efficiency.
- Nurturing hands-on experience in wastewater analysis and chemical assessment.
- Enhancing analytical proficiency within the cutting-edge facilities of the Water Research Centre.
- Collaborating with a dedicated team of researchers, united by a commitment to creating a positive environmental footprint.
Prodanovic, V., Hatt, B., McCarthy, D., Zhang, K. and Deletic, A., 2017. Green walls for greywater reuse: Understanding the role of media on pollutant removal. Ecological Engineering 102, 625-635.
Prodanovic, V., McCarthy, D., Hatt, B. and Deletic, A., 2019. Designing green walls for greywater treatment: The role of plants and operational factors on nutrient removal. Ecological Engineering 130, 184-195.
Prodanovic, V., Wang, A. and Deletic, A., 2019. Assessing water retention and correlation to climate conditions of five plant species in greywater treating green walls. Water Research 167, 115092.
Prodanovic, V., Zhang, K., Hatt, B., McCarthy, D. and Deletic, A., 2018. Optimisation of lightweight green wall media for greywater treatment and reuse. Building and Environment 131, 99-107.
Abd-ur-Rehman, H.M., Deletic, A., Zhang, K. and Prodanovic, V., 2022. The comparative performance of lightweight green wall media for the removal of xenobiotic organic compounds from domestic greywater. Water Research 221, 118774.