August Research News
WSAA
Research Newsletter – August 2024

Welcome to our August 2024 Research and Innovation Newsletter.

There are an army of researchers out there looking for solutions to make our economy more circular, find creative uses for our waste and provide a food grade product to our kitchen taps.

It is astonishing how much research they produce from month to month. This month is no exception. Read on to see what they have been up to.


If you’ve stumbled on this newsletter and would like to receive future editions please click here to subscribe.

Industry Innovation and Resilience
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WSAA New Strategy: A Boost for Innovation

WSAA has released it’s new Strategy 2030, developed in consultation with members and staff over the last year

The strategy is based around the WSAA’s purpose of connecting and leading the water sector to enable thriving communities.

The Strategy includes five strategic priorities with success measures and activities.

Water Security – Achieve equitable access to safe and secure water and wastewater services.


Customer Value – Deliver long-term financially sustainable and affordable services to customers.


Resilient and Regenerative future – Embrace resilience through circular design, safeguarding the wellbeing of future generations in our cities and towns.


First Nations – Reduce disparity of First Nations peoples access to services and increase engagement with First Nations peoples.


People and Capability – As a sector of choice, ensure our people and organisations are ready now and for the future.

Read the full strategy here

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ARENA Funds Green Oxygen Trial for Wastewater

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed up to $3 million in funding to the Barwon Region Water Corporation (Barwon Water) for the Green Oxygen for Wastewater Treatment project.

Barwon Water aims to investigate the use of pure oxygen produced as a by-product of electrolysis to treat water more efficiently at its Northern Water Plant in Geelong and reduce wastewater treatment plant emissions.

Read more at ARENA

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Australian Technology Forecasting Water Quality in California

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is working with partners in California to test and enhance AquaWatch Australia, a service to deliver national water quality updates and forecasts.

AquaWatch is a world-first system which combines data from water sensors and satellites, processing the information with advanced data analytics to provide near-real-time water quality monitoring and forecasts.

Read more at WaterOnline

Read more at the CSIRO 

Energy and the Circular Economy
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Converting Wastewater to Fertiliser with Fungus
Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are exploring the use of a fugus to convert wastewater from hydrothermal liquefaction into fertiliser for agriculture.
Hydrothermal liquefaction is a process that converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process.
The fungal treatment trialled used Trametes versicolor, a white-rot fungus, to break the organic nitrogen compounds into ammonia or nitrate and potentially remove toxic components.
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New Survey of Innovation in Water-Related Technologies
A really interesting report from the European Patent Office that provides a global picture of the innovation landscape for water related technologies.
The report shows that water constitutes a relatively small area of the global innovation landscape, however, innovation in water related technologies has increased almost fourfold in thirty years, from 300 annual patents in the early 1990s to over 1200 in the 2020s.
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Deep Tech Finder Maps Investment Ready Tech
While we are at the European Patent Office we can also explore the very interesting Deep Tech Finder.
The Deep Tech Finder aims to help you find investment-ready European startups with current patent applications and query their funding history, patent applications and find a link to their web site.
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PFAS More Prevalent in Pesticides

Researchers led by the Center for Biological Diversity have compiled data on sources of PFAS in pesticide products and found that, among other things, 14 percent of all U.S. pesticide active ingredients are PFAS, including nearly one-third of active ingredients approved in the past 10 years.

These are troubling results and come with some sober recommendations for the US regulators.

Read more at WaterOnline

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Can UV Radiation Kill Submerged Weeds

In an Australian first, a Federation University study supported by Southern Rural Water has shown that UV-C radiation can be used to kill submerged weeds in laboratory conditions.

Aquatic weeds, left untreated, choke channels and prevent the effective delivery of water needed to irrigate vegetable crops and pastures for dairy production.

The hope is that UV–C radiation energy treatments could be a future alternative that will both benefit the environment and remove the need to use chemicals.

Read more at Southern Rural Water

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Mobile Unit Destroys PFAS Without Secondary Waste
Researchers in Belgium are testing a fully automated and remotely monitored mobile pilot plant that treats groundwater contaminated with PFAS.
The process developed by Oxyle, uses a catalyst activated by turbulence in water to break down and mineralize broad-spectra PFAS (from ultra short to long-chain) into harmless by-products like fluoride ions, sulfate ions, and carbon dioxide.
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A Promising New Method Uses Light To Clean Up PFAS

Researchers at Ritsumeikan University, Japan, have proposed a room-temperature method to decompose perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) using visible LED light.

The method involves irradiating visible LED light onto cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanocrystals and copper-doped CdS (Cu-CdS) nanocrystals with surface ligands of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) in a solution containing PFAS, FPs, and triethanolamine (TEOA).

The process generates electrons with a high reduction potential that break down the strong carbon-fluorine bonds in PFAS molecules.

A promising outcome could be the recovery of fluorine from waste PFAS and a reduced need for new fluorine production.

Read more at WaterOnline

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Producing Water Out of Thin Air
Researchers at the University of Utah have unveiled the first-of-its-kind compact rapid cycling fuel-fired atmospheric water harvesting device.
The two-step prototype relies on adsorbent materials that draw water molecules out of non-humid air, then applies heat to release those molecules into liquid form.
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Revolutionary Microfluidic Sensors Enable Real-Time Detection Of Multiple Heavy Metals In Water

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed advanced microfluidic sensor arrays that simultaneously visualize and detect heavy metal ions in environmental water in real time.

The microfluidic sensors on acrylic plates use a combination of capillary force and the hydrophobic nature of the plates’ inner surfaces. This allows for the creation of intricate microfluidic channels.

Read more at WaterOnline

Read the paper here at ScienceDirect

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Cutting-Edge Technology Detects Nanoplastics in Water – Instantly!
Researchers led by a McGill research team have developed the first real-time, on-site technology capable of detecting and deciphering nanoplastics from all other particles in water, a capacity akin to being able to find a needle in a haystack within milliseconds.
The technology uses AI-assisted nano digital in-line holographic microscopy or AI-Assisted Nano-DIHM’.
WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY
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Cleaner Water With Electrified Membranes

Researchers from the Yale have proposed the use of electrified membranes made with carbon nanotubes as a strategy for nitrate removal in drinking water.
The electrified membranes are made of carbon nanotubes and a polymer that holds them together.
The approach speeds up the reaction time and nitrate removal, taking the duration required fro hours down to 15 seconds.
Some interesting things
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Could Running on Water be an Olympic Sport?
The ability to run on water is one of the most impressive feats in the animal kingdom – a triumph of physics as much as biology.
It’s a question that has intrigued researchers for many years, but there’s something else all good physicists will want to know: could humans moving at speed ever run on water?
This is really interesting. It confirms that there is a lot about the world that we still don’t understand.
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Europe’s Largest Robotic Parcel Sorting System Goes Live
Europe’s largest automated robotic parcel sorting system has been installed in Turkey. The sortation system uses 120 ‘Mini Yellow’ robots to connect over 700 destination chutes with five parcel induction points has the capacity to process some 45,000 items per hour.
Each of the fast-moving sorting robots has a load capacity of up to 10kg and uses collision avoidance technologies to perform their route-based sorting tasks safely.
Events
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NSW State Conference

Water the Key in Unlocking a Regional Sustainable Future

28 – 29 August 2024, Albury

Featuring a high-calibre line-up of international, national and local water industry professionals. This is a conference you will not want to miss. Expect to hear from local regional councils, the University of Sydney, Veolia and Sydney Water (just to name a few!).

Register here

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Voices from the Bush Conference 2024

10 – 11 September 2024, Alice Springs

This conference has been created as a dedicated space for open dialogue on the pressing matters affecting regional and remote Australian communities. The focus is on sharing, connecting, and promoting thought leadership, acknowledging the particular significance and challenges relating to water in the lives and livelihoods of our rural and remote communities.

Read more here

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International Cleanup Conference – Adelaide 2024

15 – 19 September 2024, Adelaide

The 10th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference incorporating the 4th International PFAS Conference.

Join delegates from Australia and around the world to help build professional skills on PFAS management, human health risk assessment, bioremediation and more.

More Information Here

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Circular Economy for Climate and Environment

Sep 29 – Oct 2, University of Technology Sydney

This conference aims to serve as a dynamic platform, bringing together researchers from academia, industries, government, and NGOs on a global scale.

The conference’s thematic scope extends across circular economy applications in water, energy, environment, waste, resource recovery, and climate change.

Read more here

Global Nature Positive Summit

8-10 October 2024, International Convention Centre, Sydney

Australia will host the first Global Nature Positive Summit at the International Convention Centre in Sydney on 8-10 October 2024.


The Summit will bring together delegates from around the world including ministers, environment groups, Aboriginal peoples, business, scientists and community leaders, to consider how to supercharge investment in projects that repair nature.

The Global Nature Positive Summit is an invitation-only event.
To register your interest in hearing more about the Summit, please go to: www.dcceew.gov.au/naturepositivesummit

If you see any interesting articles, projects or news about new research that others might be interested in, please send to [email protected] – it could even make the next newsletter due in September 2024.
Resources

Research Data Australia

Find, access, and re-use data from over one hundred Australian research organisations

Australian Government – GrantConnect
Forecast and current Australian Government grant opportunities
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Amazing Trove of Water Industry Research!

UK Water Industry Research have made their trove of research available without charge.

Click here to go to the UKWIR library

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Click here to start your journey