US-Australia Planning Visit: Sustainable Urban Water Management

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

This project supports the development of US-Australian collaborative research in sustainable urban water management. The PI, Dr. Jon Hathaway of The University of Tennessee (UT), proposes to collaborate with Australian researchers Dr. Tim Fletcher (Dept. of Resource Management and Geography, University of Melbourne) and Dr. David McCarthy (Dept. of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne). Drs. Fletcher and McCarthy are developing and refining new models of pollutant transport in urban streams, stormwater runoff, and stormwater controls. Dr. Hathaway is an expert in field monitoring of stormwater systems and processes related to pollutant removal in stormwater controls. This project would pave the way for future US-Australian collaboration by using data collected by UT in models developed in Australia and vice versa, enhancing stormwater modeling capabilities at UT (and thus the United States). Our ultimate goal of achieving calibrated modeling based on unit processes could transform the field of stormwater management. This project will allow both US and Australian researchers to conduct more specific and effective research in the areas of fate and transport of contaminants in water, the availability of high quality water supplies, and the environmental engineering implications of energy and resource consumption. Numerous streams and rivers in the United States and across the world do not meet water quality criteria for microbes due, in part, to contamination from urbanization. Collaborative work on indicator bacteria and pathogen (and other toxic pollutants) modeling in urban streams, runoff, and stormwater controls is critical to public health. Economic impacts are also expected as a result of advances in stormwater system modeling for pollutants. The researchers will disseminate the knowledge gained in this research through hands-on training and classroom discussions. This award is co-funded by the Environmental Engineering Program, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport.