Water Management

Water Management Research has a strong and established track record in delivering cutting-edge research in all aspects of water management. Contributing research leaders have a broad range of expertise, including flood risk management; urban drainage, culvert and coastal defence design; coastal and river dynamics; water and wastewater treatment; marine renewable energy; water resources management; and deterministic and stochastic hydrology. Opportunities also exist for postgraduate studies leading to the MSc and PhD degrees.

Research activities

The focus of research is on the development and application of novel modelling and analytical tools for better understanding and prediction of the numerous drivers of environmental change and their impacts on extreme events (droughts and floods) and water security at various temporal and spatial scales. This is helping to provide improved adaptation practices for a range of water-related environmental problems, e.g. climate change, and the attainment of sustainable development goals. The research in the group is supported by state-of-art laboratory and field measurement facilities. Consultancies in these areas are also undertaken.

Flood risk management

The field of flood risk management encompasses a variety of different techniques, ranging from structural flood defences to societal adaptation to enhance flood resilience. Within this framework, we work at both the urban, catchment and coastal scale. Our urban flooding research focusses on the performance of traditional stormwater drainage systems under real world loading conditions, and on how sustainable natural based techniques can be used to help reduce flood risk and improve water quality. Our fluvial and coastal flooding research has a global outlook and focuses on uncertainty quantification, climate change influences, large scale flood inundation modelling, flood risk analysis, Nature Based Solutions, and flood communication.

Please click on the under-listed contributing staff members for further details about their research interests, ongoing projects, existing opportunities, etc.

Water resources management

Significant challenges associated with severe pressures on water resources in many parts of the world and the need to ensure water security and climate-resilient operations are key motivators for the water resources management research we undertake. Problems relating to increasing demand, changing runoff patterns and water contamination caused by climate and other environmental changes, are tackled through the delivery of tools for better planning and operation of irrigation and water supply reservoirs, groundwater evaluation and management, and wastewater treatment and operation. Research in areas allied to water resources planning and management such as stochastic and deterministic hydrology, optimisation of water resources systems, and the modelling of environmental systems using mechanistic and data-driven approaches is also undertaken.

Please click on the under-listed contributing staff members for further details about their research interests, ongoing projects, existing opportunities, etc.

Environmental fluid mechanics

We are internationally-leading experts in the following Environmental Fluid Mechanics topics with pressing societal needs of climate change, extreme events, natural hazards, and marine renewable energy and pollution.

Coastal and Estuary: Coastal process and engineering, marine renewable energy, ocean waves, coastal hazards, resilience and adaptation to the changing climate, fluid-structure interactions, sediment transport, flow-vegetation interactions, marine pollution,  wave-tide-surge-ocean circulation interactions, coastal ecology and aquaculture.

Fluvial: Theoretical, experimental and computational studies of fluvial processes of water flow, solute transport, sediment transport, morphological evolution and debris flow, with particular attention to multiphase and multiscale coupling mechanisms between these processes and their relationship to environmental hazards such as flooding and pollution incidents.

Please click on the under-listed contributing staff members for further details about their research interests, ongoing projects, existing opportunities, etc.

Water pollution / Water and Wastewater Treatment

The pollution of surface and groundwater resources is a major constraint in meeting societies’ need for adequate water supply. Gross pollution from untreated and partially treated industrial and domestic wastewater combine with pollution from diffused (agricultural and other industrial) sources to render the available water resources useless for various purposes. At the same time, large swales of groundwater reservoirs in various parts of the world contain high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals, and these are adversely affecting the health of users. Cleaning up the water to ensure environmental and public health protection is the focus of our research.

The development of novel, artificial intelligence modelling tools to better control conventional water and wastewater treatment technologies so that they perform optimally is a focus of ongoing research. Our pioneering work on the in-situ remediation of arsenic infested groundwater resources in Asia and elsewhere is saving lives and improving water security. Opportunities also exist for investigating low-cost water and wastewater treatment alternatives for developing countries.

Please click on the under-listed contributing staff members for further details about their research interests, ongoing projects, existing opportunities, etc.

Postgraduate study

Taught

Our MSc/PgDip Water and Environmental Management (WEM) offers a multi-disciplinary understanding of water resources and environmental issues. It aims to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to plan and manage water resources within the context of climate change and the environment. With growing worldwide issues over water resources, this sector is becoming ever more important. WEM is delivered by experts in the field of water and environmental management, covering a wide range of relevant disciplines. It is suitable for graduates in civil engineering, earth sciences or other related disciplines. Career opportunities include water resources engineering, environmental engineering, flood risk management and industrial software packages.

PhD

Opportunities for PhD research exist in all the research areas outlined above and applications and enquiries are welcome at any time from interested candidates.