Public Health and Environmental Engineering

The Public Health and Environmental Engineering Research Group focuses on the application of engineering techniques for the betterment of systems in the built environment. Primarily, the group concentrates efforts on water and sanitation for buildings.

The main areas of research interest are: Sanitary drainage research; Infection spread and Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in water and sanitation systems research; Drainage system sizing and testing; Product development and enterprise; Aerobiology and aerosol science; Wastewater based epidemiology; Water demand modelling; and Water (including sanitation in developing countries).

The depth and breadth of experience within the group creates a critical mass within which real progress in the research areas can be achieved. The group has attracted approx. £3m of research grants in the past 5 years from a variety of funders including: Industry partners Aliaxis; UKRI; EPSRC; UK Government; CREW; NHS England; NHS Assure Scotland; Scottish Enterprise; and CIBSE.

The group is at the forefront of innovation in the field, with three active international patents and two in the application process. We seek to make our expertise relevant to industry, government and regulators alike.

Example projects include:

• High Rise Building Drainage Air and Water Management- Phase I: Systems Characterisation and Model Development;
• High Rise Building Drainage Air and Water Management- Phase II: Data Driven Innovation;
• The role of air pressure transients on the spread of bacteria from water trap seals in clinical settings: A laboratory based pilot study;
• Defective Trap identification system; Very near source sampling of SARS-CoV-2;
• Aerosol/Droplet sampling of wastewater for SARS-CoV2.

Staff

• Dr David Campbell
• Dr Laurent Galbrun
• Prof Michael Gormley
• Prof Lynne Jack
• Dr David Kelly
• Dr Sarwar Mohammed
• Ms Khanda Sharif
• Dr Colin Stewart