Government sinks £8.2m into water treatment
16 Dec 2015
Cranfield University has been awarded £8.2 million to shape the future of UK water treatment and infrastructure.
The investment comes through the UK Collaboratorium for Research in Infrastructure & Cities (UKCRIC), which involves 14 other UK universities.
It will support research through Cranfield University’s Water Science Institute.
Our expertise in water science is already well-established and these facilities will allow us to advance our understanding of water infrastructure further
Cranfield University’s Paul Jeffrey
The investment forms part of a wider UKCRIC £138 million package from the government with 100% matched funding from other sources – making it one of the largest collaborative research projects in the UK outside of national security and medicine, Cranfield said.
As well as funding new facilities including a pilot hall and an infrastructure monitoring and control suite, the university said its existing industrial-scale test facilities will be enhanced, providing extended access to on-site wastewater, water, and stormwater treatment and conveyance systems.
Cranfield said research at the existing test facilities will focus on a range of areas, including treatment and distribution processes, future technologies such as low energy treatment and nutrient and energy recovery, condition monitoring and performance assessment.
Paul Jeffrey, professor of water management at Cranfield University, said the new facilities would enhance research into the future of “our most fundamental utility”.
“Our expertise in water science is already well-established and these facilities will allow us to advance our understanding of water infrastructure further,” he said.
The investment was announced in the government’s Autumn Statement and Comprehensive Spending Review last month.
