Whether it is for maintaining natural ecosystems, crop irrigation, creating waterparks, drinking water supply, or enabling industrial processes, the ability to effectively and efficiently capture and manage water, filter and supply clean water, and purify wastewater is essential.
There is a growing urgency to develop technology and processes that will ensure every drop of water is captured and used to its maximum potential and at the least impact on the environment. This urgency is compounded by a changing climate, a greater variability in supply, ageing infrastructure in our cities and towns, and the emergence of water-hungry industrial processes such as the creation of green hydrogen and the purification of critical minerals for the renewable energy industry.
Our researchers develop new technologies and smart water systems to improve water supply security and sustainability to households and businesses in quantity and matching quality to specific usage.
We explore new techniques to regenerate and modernise existing water infrastructure in a way that is cost effective, safe and reliable without needing to rebuild from the ground up.
We also develop and work with the industry to implement new technologies for recovering resources and energy to minimise the carbon footprint of wastewater purification.
We are developing nanomaterials and new membrane technologies that can make water and wastewater treatment more efficient and cost effective, and that can support a circular economy by capturing valuable resources such as phosphorus for re-use instead of allowing it to flow into the ocean.
Applications of our research are relevant globally across sectors ranging government, council, water utilities, mining and energy/resource extraction industries and the agribusiness sector. The work from our centre has a global reach. UTS is globally ranked #1 in Water Resources by US News and #2 in research contribution to SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation by Times Higher Education.
Our current research themes include:
- Wastewater Treatment and Re-use Technologies
- Water Supply and Alternative Water Sources
- Water Resource Management and Catchment Modelling
- New Materials and Membrane Processes
International water research networks
As a collaborative research centre, we bring together researchers, government, industry and community partners to develop new technologies and materials for water and wastewater treatment. Our researchers have extensive networks with a wide range of research collaborators and engage extensively with globally significant collaborative research projects with partners around the world.