Recent projects with research impact

DEMOWARE

The DEMOWARE project (innovation demonstration for a competitive and innovative water reuse sector) was funded by the European Union FP7 programme and brought together public authorities, regulators, water utilities, companies, research community and the public to generate and share knowledge on innovative water reuse schemes. The project objectives included demonstrating the technical feasibility of innovative technologies for water reclamation and reuse, advanced monitoring and control options for the fate of water constituents in water recycling schemes, and promoting the marketability of water reuse schemes and awareness of water reuse practices among public administrations and the public. Cranfield Water Science Institute (CWSI) staff were involved in testing advanced monitoring techniques including flow cytometry to evaluate the effectiveness of disinfection technologies for water recycling scheme, assessing the challenges associated with governance in water reuse and potential responses strategies, and were instrumental in the establishment of Water Reuse Europe.

Shaping the future of urban water supplies at the Olympic Park

Working with Thames Water, CWSI surveyed visitors to the Olympic Park during the London 2012 Games on their opinions about the use of recycled water from sewage effluent. A high level of support for such a scheme was observed. CWSI researchers surveyed 309 visitors exiting the park during both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The results were then set in context with previous work undertaken by Thames Water. The results showed a strong level of receptivity to using dual supply systems that deliver recycled blackwater for non-potable uses. This project also provided glimpses of a shift in public dialogue surrounding water reuse in the UK and showed that Thames Water is well placed to encourage public discussion around the role of water reuse in the future of urban water supplies.

Pinpointing lead in Yorkshire Water’s distribution network

CWSI has recently delivered a procedure to help Yorkshire Water find the likely location of lead assets (mainly piping) within their water service system and to gain perspective on perceived 'hot spots' of lead non-compliance. The approach developed by CWSI included a review of available datasets on housing stock. This revealed the scarcity of reliable, accessible data on the characteristics of individual properties, particularly dwelling age. CWSI recommended the use of Building Class data as the primary basis for developing the methodology. The outcome has enabled Yorkshire Water to better predict the likely risk associated with regulatory and customer perceived lead non-compliance. Outputs from the methodology will also support business cases for deployment of alternatives to monosodium phosphate dosing or possibly capital solutions to lead non-compliance.

Recent relevant publications

  • Goodwin, D., Raffin, M., Jeffrey, P. and Smith, H.M. (2018) Informing public attitudes to non-potable water reuse - the impact of message framing. Water Research. 145. pp 125-135 
  • Daneshkhaha, A., Stocks, N.G., and Jeffrey, P. (2017) Probabilistic Sensitivity Analysis of Optimised Preventive Maintenance Strategies for Deteriorating Infrastructure Assets. Reliability Engineering & System Safety. 163: 33-45
  • Frijns, J., Smith, H., Brouwer, S., Garnett, K., Elelman, R., and Jeffrey, P. (2016) How governance regimes shape the implementation of water reuse schemes. Water. 8(12) 605.
  • Xeri, F., Jeffrey, P. and Smith, H. (2016). Unpacking organizational capacity in the context of the Water Framework Directive. International Journal of River Basin Management. 14(3), 317–27
  • Fawell, J., LeCorre, K. and Jeffrey, P. (2016) Common or independent ? The debate over regulations and standards for water reuse in Europe. International Journal of Water Resources Development. 32, 559
  • Russell-Verma, S., Smith, H.M., and Jeffrey, P. (2016) Public views on drought mitigation: Evidence from the comments sections of on-line news sources. Urban Water Journal. 13(5) 454-462

I saw the studentship advertised and thought it was a great opportunity to do a co-productive method PhD and develop my expertise in the water field. I was also excited by the opportunity to conduct applied research that could have real impact because of the links with Scottish Water.

Grace Remmington, Current PhD student