Cranfield University (UCRAN)

Cranfield University is an exclusively post-graduate, international centre of excellence in research and teaching in strategic areas of science, technology and management. The university is distinctive in undertaking near or full industrial scale evaluations of new science and technology. Cranfield combines the academic rigour and long term perspective of a university with the commercial and business focus of industry. It is a world leader in defence and natural resource management, including the management of water quality. Our research income, measured as a percentage of our turnover, puts us as one of the top five research intensive universities in the UK alongside Oxford, Cambridge, and London’s Imperial College. The Cranfield Water Science Institute (CWSI) is both nationally and internationally recognised for its work on water and wastewater treatment, the human dimensions of water management, process science, technology development, water policy analysis, decision support, infrastructure management, governance and policy. CWSI also coordinates the STREAM Engineering Doctorate Centre (www.stream-idc.net) which currently includes several projects on combined natural and engineered treatment systems. Our research draws on a range of specialized laboratories as well as near-industrial scale pilot testing facilities. CWSI maintains close working relationships with the UK’s water and wastewater service providers, including strategic research partnership agreements with Yorkshire Water and Severn Trent Water. The institute also has extensive experience on large international research projects (e.g., AQUAREC, RECLAIM Water, TRUST, Water4India, DEMOWARE)

Main tasks in the project:

• WP3 – Constructed wetlands and other natural systems for improved wastewater treatment: Cranfield staff will work closely with WatsTech, with additional support from Severn Trent Water, to assess P removal through natural treatment systems, a reactive media reed bed and an immobilised algae photo-bioreactor, using the Packington test site near Birmingham, UK.
• WP5: Interfaces with environment and society: Cranfield will lead this work package, which examines the environmental, social and policy implications of combined natural and engineered treatment systems, in order to better understand their pathways to commercialisation. Staff on this task has expertise in the regulation and governance of water and wastewater services, public perceptions, and ecosystem services assessments.
• WP8: member of the Project Management Team