Water quality and health

From catchment to consumer

Flinders Water Quality and Health research consortium is developing solutions and informing policy and practice for monitoring, treatment and control of water sources to protect human health.

What is Flinders Water Quality and Health research consortium?

Australia faces a challenging future to ensure the sustainable supply of safe and reliable water resources. To address emerging problems relating to contaminants, decentralised treatment, and diminishing clean water resources, Flinders University has coordinated its water quality researchers from a number of disciplines through the creation of a Water Quality and Health research consortium. This consortium includes microbiologists, geochemists, hydrogeologists, chemists, and environmental health experts.

The aim of the consortium is to develop innovative solutions and inform policy and practice for monitoring, treatment and control of water sources to protect human health. The unique strength of this consortium is its combination of internationally acknowledged expertise across relevant aspects of water quality; hydrology, flow and geochemical modelling and human health risk assessment.

Research with real-world impact

Flinders Water Quality and Health research will help us secure water for the future.

Key research areas

Measuring and modelling contaminants through the water cycle.
Developing innovative treatment and management solutions for contaminant control in the water cycle.
Water quality and human health risk assessment.
Integrating groundwater modelling and water quality analysis to predict contaminant movement.

World-class research

Flinders University is a recognised leader in water research. Flinders is currently ranked 13th in the World University Rankings for Water Resources (ARWU Subject Ranking 2019) and is home to the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT).

The Water Quality and Health research consortium expands this research strength into the water quality and environmental health sphere, providing expertise for solving contemporary and emerging issues in which water quality and human health is front and centre:

Surface water and groundwater contamination.
Microbiological contaminants in waste and drinking water and their health risks.
Environmental effects of mining and the emerging issues around recycling of waste- and stormwater.
Food and agriculture.

Projects that make a difference

Flinders Water Quality and Health research projects include:

Developing novel high-rate algal ponds for treatment of community wastewater.
Examining rainwater and surface water contaminants post bushfires.
Managing opportunistic waterborne pathogens through manufactured water systems.
Managing antimicrobial resistance in the water cycle.
Investigating radionucleotide content of wastewater and implication for reuse.
Investigating the fate of contaminants during aquifer storage and recovery.
Modelling groundwater quantity and quality for agriculture and farming purposes.
Development of reactive (bio)geochemical transport models to quantify the fate of macro- and micropollutants.