IT Sligo Research Capability in Water &Wastewater Dr Billy Fitzgerald Head of Department of Environmental Science

IT Sligo Research Capability in Water &Wastewater Dr Billy FitzgeraldHead of Department of Environmental Science

Brief Background

• 40 years experience in the area of

Environmental Science/Management and

Environmental Engineering

• Significant success with Open & Distance

Learning (ODL) and on-line courses

• Courses available from Levels 6 - 10

• Principal Investigators in this Strategic Research

Centre are Interdisciplinary

• CERIS is internationally engaged in water and

wastewater research through collaboration with

industries, agencies and other academic institutions

€1.54 M in research funding

Thematic Areas

•Agroecology•Ecosystem Management and Restoration•Ecosystem Services•Invasive Species•Molecular Ecology

Applied Ecology

•Water and Wastewater Management•Energy Management•Bioremediation of soils•Nutrient Management•Sustainability systems

Resource Manageme

nt

R&D Collaborations to date• EPA• Inland Fisheries Ireland• Teagasc• Bord na Mona• Northern Ireland Water• Local Authorities• Numerous Industrial Sectors

– Water & Wastewater Treatment Companies– Invasive Species Control– Chemical & Pharmaceutical– Energy Production– Biomass Production

Examples of R&D Projects

• Optimisation of Management of Wastewater Treatment Plants

• Wastewater Treatability Studies (Pilot Plants)

• Phosphorus Recovery from On-Site WWTPs

• Environmental Public Health: Monitoring of Cryptosporidium,

Giardia, harmful algal blooms (HABS)

• Toxic Cyanobacteria: Health, Ecological dynamics & Water Quality

• Catchment management planning-minimising risk of nutrient

export to water resources (specialist expertise in agricultural

systems)

Examples of R&D Projects

• Aquatic Invasive Species: Risk analysis, monitoring, control

and management

• Ecological assessments of surface waters (WFD)

• Ecosystem management and restoration

• Restoration of degraded peatland and wetland ecosystems

- improving water regulatory and C sequestration services

- Biological indicators for lake trophic status assessment- Community succession, lake connectivity and mesoscale dispersion dynamics- Analysis of hepatotoxin and neurotoxin producing species in Irish water bodies- Molecular community fingerprinting and toxic chemotype succession

TOXIC CYANOBACTERIA : HEALTH, ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS & WATER QUALITY

Invasive Species Research

Sara Meehan: Zebra mussel control

Rory Sheehan: Asian clam survey

• Catchment management planning-minimising risk of nutrient export to water resources (specialist expertise in agricultural systems)

• Restoration of degraded peatland and wetland ecosystems - improving water regulatory and C sequestration services

Photocatalysis for disinfection: How does it work?

Pillai et al, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 125, 2013, 331– 349

US-Ireland R&D Partnership (Supported by NSF (USA), SFI and InvestNI; Funding US$1.1 million)

China

London

Degradation mechanism of Cyanotoxins Using Novel Visible Light-Activated Titania (TiO2) Photocatalysts

http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/algal_toxins/Graham, 2010, Environmental Science and Technology, 44 (19):7361–7368

Binder Lake, Iowa, USATotal [microcystin]=40 µg/L

Collaborators