Description

The Department of Water and Wastewater Technology was founded in 1983, but its origin dates back to 1951, when the Faculty of Marine Civil Engineering launched the Laboratory of Water and Wastewater Research.

The scientific-research activity of the Department staff addresses the environmental engineering issues, featuring water and wastewater treatment and sewage sludge management. The conducted research focuses on assessment and reduction of environmental threats due to contamination inflow (both point and surface source types) and their elimination by means of conventional, biological and natural methods (applying activated sludge reactor, trickling filter and hydrophyte systems) and advanced physico-chemical processes. The research (in laboratory, pilot and technical scales) deals with a new-generation contamination and the energy balance improvement of the water-wastewater facilities.

Recently in the Department many research projects have been conducted, taking advantage of national and international funds (European funds, Norwegian Financial Mechanism, National Science Centre, National Centre for Research and Development). The Department staff co-operates with around 20 scientific research institutions all over the world.

Infrastructure

At the Department there is affiliated the Regional /Environmental Laboratory of Water and Wastewater Biotechnology, equipped with the novel research apparatus. The equipment of the Laboratory makes it possible to:
- analyse the heavy metal content in solid and liquid test samples, applying
the ASA method,
- measure the particles in water suspensions by means of laser diffraction,
- measure the colloidal SDI factor,
- investigate the treatment issue of groundwater and surface waters
(both laboratory and pilot scales),
- assess the properties of sorption materials,
- optimize the unit processes to treat the municipal and industrial wastewater
and post-fermentation leachates,
- assess the possibilities to apply the hydrophyte method in water protection
(both laboratory and pilot scales),
- test a methane potential of sewage sludge, agricultural and food waste
substrates - identification of bacterial consortia in environmental samples, assessing their clone structure and biotechnological utility,
- assess of water and wastewater sanitary quality, fate of resistant bacteria
and dissemination of resistance determinants,
- investigate on biological and physico-chemical stability of potable water.

Industrial offer

• Development of modern, highly efficient and economically rational solutions in the field of water, wastewater, sludge and solids as well as rainwater management, e.g. the energetic balance improvement of wastewater treatment plants, effective removal of nutrients compounds and micro-contaminations, optimization of methane potential of substrates and co-substrates,
• Technological concepts for the new and modernized water treatment plants,
• Municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants – the launch projects, technological concepts of modernization and efficiency improvement,
• Construction of wetland systems for domestic wastewater treatment, utilization of sewage sludge in non-urban areas, preventing small watercourses from contamination inflow,
• Sewage sludge – utilization and management,
• Physico-chemical and microbiological investigations of water, soils, wastewater and sewage sludge (sediments).