Martin Fryer

fryerm@tcd.ie

Foaming control in the activated sludge process using metabolic control
Activated sludge is the name given to the widely used wastewater treatment process whereby sewage is broken down by oxidation and the resulting solids are captured in a clarification step. This process of handling waste streams dates back from 1914 and has now become a favourable option in the process of secondary wastewater treatment. Whilst the activated sludge process is very robust, it is not without operational issues. One of the biggest problems experienced is due to a phenomenon commonly referred to as ‘foaming’ which has been strongly linked to a group of bacteria known as filamentous bacteria. In the worst cases, foaming can result in the loss of treatment capacity, resulting ultimately in an unstable process. The aim of this project is to attempt to isolate the key factors that trigger foaming to occur in activated sludge plants and then to propose a way as to how the running of plants can be improved to reduce the risk of treatment failure. The project is focusing in three key stages. Firstly, in-situ fieldwork is being carried out comparing foaming and non-foaming sites. On- site testing involves foam characterisation, settlement testing, foam potential tests and process review. This is being followed by extensive microscopic analysis and fundamental laboratory tests such as COD/BOD measurements, and total suspended solids measurement. Stage two is the utilisation of a pilot plant (Bio-Simulator®) which mimics the processes occurring within an activated sludge plant. The reactor is being fed using OCED synthetic sewage and operating using activated sludge samples taken from different sites. Parameters such as mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), pH, influent loading and rate of return sludge are being monitored. The third stage of the work will bring together all the data collected from site testing and laboratory studies to develop a foaming control algorithm using fuzzy reasoning techniques. From this a better understanding will be obtained as to how to prevent the on-set of foaming within the activated process by controlling metabolic pathways through kinetic factors.

Helder Pereira

cunhapeh@tcd.ie

Dynamics of nutrients and algae in Irish turloughs
Turloughs can be defined as depressions in karstic areas that inundate seasonally (mostly by groundwater), and that support soils and ecological communities characteristic of wetlands. These ecosystems are virtually unique to Ireland, spread predominantly across the West. Because turloughs are potentially threatened wetland habitats (i.e. by drainage, eutrophication and management – grazing - changes), their management requires the full inventory of their biodiversity and the factors affecting it. Furthermore, the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) establishes the achievement of good ecological status for all European water bodies until 2015, including turloughs. This Directive specifically focuses on biological data as indicator of water quality, rather than solely relying on chemical analysis. Turloughs are also protected under the European Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).
The present project will describe the seasonal and spatial dynamics of plant nutrients (focusing predominantly in phosphate and nitrogen) and of planktonic and benthic algae in Turloughs. In the first year a description of the algae and nutrient contents of a selection of different types of turloughs will be done. The data gathered - that for the first time quantifies these parameters in a wide range of turloughs - will allow for more detailed analysis to be done in fewer sites on the second year, where we hope to better understand the spatial dynamics of turloughs (e.g. inputs, outputs) and possibly model ecosystem functioning.The project is part of an overall project involving hydrological, plant, invertebrate, algae and soil and water chemistry studies on a same set of turloughs, titled “Assessing the Conservation Status of Turloughs”. The data from the different topics will be integrated to better understand turlough ecosystem functioning and to help make sound management decisions for conservation purposes.

Eileen Burke Diskin

diskineb@tcd.ie

Impacts of climate change on phenology in Ireland: An investigation of spatial and temporal mismatches within the plant-insect-bird system

After graduating from Trinity in 2005 with a degree in Environmental Science, I spent two years working in the United States - first as an environmental educator at a state park, and then as a field archaeologist. I returned to Trinity for the Biodiversity & Conservation MSc. in 2007. Over the course of my undergraduate and postgraduate studies, I have had jobs and/or conducted fieldwork in a variety of locations, including Alaska, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kenya, Uganda, and Ireland. Since finishing the MSc. last year, I worked as a Research Assistant with the Climate Change Impacts on Phenology group at Trinity. I have just begun an IRCSET-funded PhD, and at present I am working to develop my research project.
My research interests include: climate change impacts on biodiversity, interactions between protected areas and local residents in developing countries, island biogeography, ecotourism, and media-society-environment interactions. I am particularly interested in using a combination of ecological and social science approaches to investigate climate change impacts on biodiversity and implications for humans, particularly in the developing world.

Juan Severino Ibanhez

Email: pinoibaj@tcd.ie

Nitrogen reduction in marine systems: in-situ study of alternative metabolic pathways linked to Coastal Groundwater Discharge.

Juan is funded by the EU (FEDER), National Science & Technology Foundation (FCT) and the Portuguese Government. Project - Nitrogen reduction in marine systems: in-situ study of alternative metabolic pathways linked to Coastal Groundwater Discharge. The objectives of this proposal are to identify, quantify and parameterize key biogeochemical processes of Nitrogen inside permeable sediments under laboratory controlled conditions and correlate these processes with in-situ flux measurements in the Ria formosa lagoon, where heavily contaminated groundwater discharges into a productive coastal lagoon, while using selected representative N molecules as proxies.

Jennifer Brady

Email: jebrady@tcd.ie

Water Demand Management: A Strategy for Irish Water Sustainability

Many parts of Ireland are currently and will increasingly be subject to the problem of dwindling water supplies and escalating water demand, an issue being exacerbated by rapid changes in demographic structure and climate change. Water Demand Management (WDM) is a new concept that works in conjunction with existing water supply infrastructure. It avoids the need for developing new resources by setting optimal abstraction volumes and subsequently controlling demand through management of water usage. In addition, it prevents environmental disturbance which is inherent in further exploitation of water resources. Specific actions of WDM include integrated use of conservation measures, metering, charging, building regulations incorporating water use minimization and efficiency of water-use appliances. It also requires a new management structure, decentralized technologies and changing user attitudes. The project aims to define the underlying precepts of WDM in policy and operational terms in a European and Irish context. WDM has been explored in several countries, although not as an integrated part of the water supply management process. Four case studies (Australia, Canada, California and South Africa) will be studied in depth. The management structure of the water supply industry in Ireland will be examined and strengths and weaknesses identified in terms of sustainability. Using simple models based on various efficiency options, a range of Irish supply types (group, small, medium and large supply systems) will be tested within the context of climate change and socio-economic growth in terms of achieving water security to 2060.

Donata Dubber  

Email: dubberd@tcd.ie

Effects of anoxia on protozoan communities in activated sludge operation

Protozoa play a varied and significant role in the treatment of wastewater by activated sludge. The increasing importance of altering oxidation-reduction potentials (ORP) as operational steps, in what has been a traditionally aerobic microbial process, has fundamentally changed the environment within the reactor and hence the dependent microbial ecology. The project examines varying ORP on the survival of protozoan species, and their evolution as communities, and how this affects performance, sludge production and quality. Enabling protozoan community structure to be predicted in relation to anoxia will permit more effective process management resulting in optimum treatment capability.

Theresa Hughes

Email: hughesta@tcd.ie

Treatment of acid mine drainage in admixture with domestic wastewater

Mineral extraction processes commonly leave sulphide ores exposed to water and oxygen.  Oxidation of sulphide minerals, especially pyrite (FeS2), creates an acidic, metal- and sulphate-rich effluent known as acid mine drainage (AMD) which may emanate from mine adits, shafts, spoil tips and waste rock deposits.  AMD poses a major environmental threat to receiving waters, and, if left untreated, may destroy aquatic ecosystems.  The objectives of this project are two-fold: (1) to formulate an algorithm for designing optimum AMD treatment systems for a given site, and (2) to investigate co-treatment of AMD with wastewater.  The first objective will be based on an investigation of AMD treatment systems currently used to remediate abandoned mine sites, and a literature review of case studies to identify the most appropriate systems for a site, given specific hydrological, mineralogical, and physical parameters.  The second objective will be based on a laboratory investigation of the potential of combining sewage treatment provision with the treatment of AMD using the standard activated sludge process.  The objective is to determine how AMD can be treated at a standard domestic wastewater treatment plant without interfering with normal treatment processes while providing a sustainable and reliable method of disposal for this major pollutant.  Reactor performance will be measured in terms of final effluent quality, metal removal rates, the fate of sulphate, and activated sludge biomass assessment.  The results will provide a unique process design with the potential to recover valuable metals.  

Sarah McManus

email: smcmanu@tcd.ie

Pesticide leaching to groundwater in Ireland

Sarah is carrying out a Ph.D. project on pesticide leaching to groundwater in Ireland under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Coxon (TCD) and Dr. Karl Richards (Teagasc), funded by the Department of Agriculture & Food Research Stimulus Fund Programme.  This project forms part of a larger interdisciplinary project on Assessment of the vulnerability of groundwater to pesticide inputs from Irish agriculture (led by Dr. E. Cummins, University College Dublin).  This component of the project involves field investigations of pesticide leaching to groundwater under a range of land uses, soil types and geological / hydrogeological conditions, on selected farms in eastern and southern Ireland.  The research also involves analysis of existing Irish groundwater pesticide monitoring data.

Alina Premrov

email: premrova@tcd.ie

Evaluation of measures to reduce nitrate loss to groundwater from tillage farming

Alina is carrying out a Ph.D. project on an evaluation of measures to reduce nitrate loss to groundwater from tillage farming.  This project is supervised by Dr. Catherine Coxon (TCD), Dr. Karl Richards (Teagasc) & Dr. Richard Hackett (Teagasc), and was funded by a Teagasc Walsh Fellowship.  The project aims to evaluate different management strategies to minimise nitrate leaching to groundwater from spring barley production systems.  This involves an investigation of the unsaturated zone (using ceramic cups) below replicate small plots with different treatments (mustard cover crop, natural regeneration, and no vegetation cover) and an investigation of both unsaturated and saturated zones below three larger field plots.  Travel times through the unsaturated and saturated zones are being investigated.  The work aims to contribute to the research base for formulating policy relating to the EU Nitrates Directive (1991/676/EC) and the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC).

Hazel Protor

email: proctoh@tcd.ie

Impacts of climate change on the phenology of pollen release of Birch Betula pubescens and other species in Ireland and the consequences for human health.

In 2007 I completed a BSc in Horticulture at IT Blanchardstown in conjunction with the National Botanic Gardens. I went on to work on a restoration project of the walled garden at Luttrelstown Castle in Castleknock, Dublin. Through this experience I broadened my interest in natural sciences which led me to work as a research assistant on a project entitled climate change impacts on phenology: impacts on terrestrial ecosystems currently underway at the botany department. As part of my role I expanded the existing International Phenology Network (IPG) in Ireland and established a native phenology network. These networks will become active in spring 2010.  I am currently carrying out a masters through research on the impact of climate change on the phenology of birch pollen release and its consequences for human health.