SEMINAR: Water down under: a Western Australian perspective in water quality research

The Curtin Water Quality Research Centre (CWQRC) is a collaborative research alliance between Curtin University and Water Corporation, designed to focus on Western Australia's needs in water quality and treatment. The Centre fosters innovative research and training and advancement of knowledge and applied solutions to areas of importance to the water industry.

CWQRC is housed in the new state-of-the-art Resources and Chemistry Precinct at Curtin University and has an extensive suite of analytical instrumentation for specialized analysis of organic compounds in aquatic systems.

This seminar will give a broad overview of the CWQRC and its research areas, as summarized below.

Water reuse: CWQRC has built the capability for detailed chemical assessment of advanced treated wastewater for potable reuse. This capability has been extensively used in preliminary studies to a large scale trial for advanced water recycling, for the purposes of groundwater replenishment at Beenyup. It involves highly challenging analytical chemistry for study of around 200 trace organic contaminants in wastewater, previously not available in Australia.

Disinfection by-products (DBPs): CWQRC studies on drinking water DBPs are aimed at determining the most toxicologically significant compounds and developing improved treatment methods for their removal. New knowledge on this topic will shift the focus of regulators and the water industry from the conventional, regulated DBPs to those that potentially cause greatest harm to health. Other research on disinfection is investigating the impact of nitrification on chloramine disinfectant in long distribution systems and the potential to use copper to inhibit microbial activity which causes chloramine loss.

Aesthetics: An ephemeral swampy odour in drinking water in Perth's northern suburbs attributed to organosulfur compounds has been eliminated by implementation of a new MIEX® treatment plant. Spin-offs of MIEX® include better management of water in distribution systems, including better efficiency of chlorine disinfectant. CWQRC's role was to show that the MIEX® treatment would effectively remove the odour and the centre. Other studies on aesthetic issues in drinking water include a problem caused by plastic materials contacting water and the role of bromide in chlorinous odours.

Natural organic matter (NOM) studies: CWQRC research focuses on characterisation studies which provide a detailed understanding of the origins, structural features and reactivity of NOM (e.g. humic and fulvic substances) in source waters. These studies will help to predict the impact of NOM on potable supplies and allow targeted treatment for its removal. Techniques include chemical and thermal degradation of NOM prior to analysis by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography techniques; size exclusion chromatography; and methods based on UV and fluorescence spectroscopy.