Project Details
Description
Project collaborations with Thames Water have examined the health risks associated with recycled wastewater at the UK’s largest community wastewater recycling scheme at London’s Olympic Park.
The Old Ford Water Recycling Plant (WRP), located next to the main site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, treats 600,000 litres of wastewater every day, which is then used to flush toilets and irrigate parkland at the Olympic site. Jointly funded by the Olympic Delivery Authority and Thames Water at a cost of £7million, the Old Ford Water Recycling Plant was not only part of a sustainable water strategy for the Games (reducing potable water use by 58 per cent), but is regarded as a platform on which detailed research into this increasingly important field can be conducted.
Collaboration between scientists from both the University of Brighton and Thames Water focused on the plant’s ability to remove groups of viruses known as bacteriophages. The project involved monitoring water quality at different stages in the treatment plant and over a 12 month period to look at seasonal fluctuations in virus removal.
The results of this collaboration shed light on the mechanisms by which microorganisms are removed from wastewaters, and improved our understanding of human health risks. As such the findings of this research helped to ensure that Thames Water is able to meet strict water quality guidelines designed to protect human health in the years ahead.
The aims of this project were to improve our understanding of the health risks from viruses present in recycled wastewater and to determine the suitability of full-scale membrane bioreactor technologies for the provision of waters for toilet flushing, irrigation and potential human consumption.
The Old Ford Water Recycling Plant (WRP), located next to the main site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, treats 600,000 litres of wastewater every day, which is then used to flush toilets and irrigate parkland at the Olympic site. Jointly funded by the Olympic Delivery Authority and Thames Water at a cost of £7million, the Old Ford Water Recycling Plant was not only part of a sustainable water strategy for the Games (reducing potable water use by 58 per cent), but is regarded as a platform on which detailed research into this increasingly important field can be conducted.
Collaboration between scientists from both the University of Brighton and Thames Water focused on the plant’s ability to remove groups of viruses known as bacteriophages. The project involved monitoring water quality at different stages in the treatment plant and over a 12 month period to look at seasonal fluctuations in virus removal.
The results of this collaboration shed light on the mechanisms by which microorganisms are removed from wastewaters, and improved our understanding of human health risks. As such the findings of this research helped to ensure that Thames Water is able to meet strict water quality guidelines designed to protect human health in the years ahead.
The aims of this project were to improve our understanding of the health risks from viruses present in recycled wastewater and to determine the suitability of full-scale membrane bioreactor technologies for the provision of waters for toilet flushing, irrigation and potential human consumption.
| Status | Finished |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 1/09/13 → 31/08/16 |
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