My project brief

My project brief

Author : Anastasia Doronina, PhD student. Her host university is The University of Sheffield and her project, 'Understanding the fate of metals, organics and the role of service reservoirs in delivering high quality drinking water' is sponsored by Northumbrian Water, Scottish Water, Anglian Water, Welsh Water and Bristol Water

Now, this really will be brief as in all honesty I have no idea precisely what direction my project will take at this stage… In fact, I imagine that none of us will properly understand what we are doing until around mid-second year when we are neck deep in mistakes, trials, empty coffee cups, and, if we are fortunate, some sort of conclusions that give us direction. But whilst I still have the ability to maintain an optimistic view on this endeavour, here’s an overview of my project and the idea behind it…

My goal is to try to understand the fate and transport of metals and organic compounds (carbon containing molecules) from catchment (source), through the water treatment works, and the water distribution network (pipes, and customer taps). I will be doing this in order to try and derive an appropriate and cost-effective management strategy which will ensure that high quality drinking water remains high from source to tap.

My approach to achieving this will come from the understanding of how and where certain materials get in to the water supply, and at which stages they sink to the bottom. These behaviours will give some insight into the distribution of these materials at different stages of the network. I will also be looking at how the final treatment processes influence the above behaviours.

One of the main components that I will be focusing on is a metal called manganese (Mn), which is abundant in water sources and is one of the main causes of discolouration of the water supply at customer taps. It can make the water appear to have a green/brown tinge, add a strong metallic taste, and in some cases block valves and other pipe lines in the household; so, it can be quite a nuisance. The hope is that I will be able to determine whether manganese alone poses a challenge to water quality, or whether that happens in combination with other factors.

My work will require extensive fieldwork across the country, which I am really excited about, although I am sure I will be slightly less eager about analysing the, hopefully, large data-set at the end.

The rationale behind this work is that the water quality at the source will influence the final water quality coming out of a water treatment works, which will have a direct impact on the distribution pipework, and therefore the water that comes out of customers taps. Despite this known fact, not much research has been performed in this area which would link the source to tap relationship of constituents in the supply.

We all want high quality drinking water, we rely on it, and we demand it of our water companies. What most of us don’t realise, is that behind the scenes there is a vast amount of work that goes into making this happen. I aspire to make my project a part of that incredible knowledge base.

I hope that this very brief overview has been of interest, and has inspired you to check in on me from time to time to see how I’m getting on at https://www.streamacademe.tumblr. com.

Anastasia Doronina

Below is a picture of our culprit (manganese) for you to observe.