Water
Water is a key resource, essential to life, and underpins a wide range of SDGs.
Overview
Water is essential for life. It has long been a source of well-being and inspiration but is also a highly contested resource. With climate change, it is becoming increasingly scarce in some parts of the world and excessively plentiful in others, with flooding and storm waves causing widespread damage and loss of life.
SDG 6 recognises the importance of clean water and sanitation for all. SDGs 14 and 15 emphasise the conservation and management of life and healthy ecosystems in seas, rivers and lakes. According to the World Economic Forum, if we (opens in a new window)fail on water we will fail on all of the SDGs. SDG 5 on achieving gender equality? Girls and women spend 200 million hours a day globally collecting water. SDG1 on poverty? Some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water. SDG 4 on quality education? Around 31% of schools worldwide lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation.
Research, Innovation and Impact
UCD researchers and innovators are actively addressing these challenges and improving our understanding of water and our relationship with it. They are generating knowledge and innovative solutions from perspectives including the biological, environmental and medical sciences, engineering, geography, geology, mathematics, planning and policy, economics, social sciences, archaeology and literature.
This diverse expertise is brought together by the UCD Earth Institute through its water research theme and the Marine and Energy Social Sciences and Humanities Interdisciplinary Research group ( MESSAGE ), exploring questions like how can we ensure safely managed water supplies and sanitation for all? How can we effectively conserve the world’s marine and freshwater resources? What role can water play in renewable energy generation? How can we understand and mitigate flooding and extreme weather events? How do we support the economic development and social and cultural wellbeing of coastal communities while maintaining and protecting marine and freshwater biodiversity?
For example, the (opens in a new window)WaterLANDS project is led by UCD and brings together 32 organisations from research, industry, government and non-profit sectors in 14 European countries. Its focus is on the restoration of wetland sites across Europe which have been damaged by human activity and establishing the foundations for protection across larger areas.
The Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research was officially launched in 1989 to coordinate, develop and optimise the resources of the School of Civil Engineering across the broad spectrum of water resources engineering. The School has a well-established tradition of research in water engineering, including hydrologic and hydraulic studies, water quality modelling and environmental impact assessment, along with water and wastewater treatment science and technology and water pollution control.
Research projects at the Dooge Centre include Water Futures, a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional project investigating the future responses of water, ecology and environment to agents of change. Funded by the Irish Environmental Agency and the Irish Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, UCD researchers in engineering, ecology, geography and environmental planning and policy are working with colleagues in Trinity College Dublin, Maynooth University, Atlantic Technological University, Munster Technological University, the Marine Institute, Teagasc, ESRI and Rothamsted Research.
(opens in a new window)Acclimatize 2 is the latest in a series of large EU-funded projects in which UCD researchers on microbial ecology, water quality, sensor networks and hydrodynamic modelling have collaborated with partners in Ireland and overseas to understand pollution in bathing waters in urban and rural areas, inform management and predict consequences of climate change.
(opens in a new window)Professor Frédéric Dias is a leading expert on waves, with research focussed on the formation of extreme waves, how waves break and on inundation by tsunamis. Findings from his research team inform determination of structural loads of ships and offshore infrastructures and the optimisation of operational strategies for marine renewable energy enterprises.
(opens in a new window)Dr Sarah Cotterill works on wastewater treatment and on the use of sustainable drainage systems and nature-based solutions to capture and control the release of rainwater run-off to enable local flood resilience. She was part of a collaboration with researchers and community groups in the '(opens in a new window)Ripple' project which won the champions prize in the ‘connecting to nature’ category of the New European Bauhaus awards.
Did you know? The Water Tower (1972) by architect Andrzej Wejchert is one of UCD’s most iconic structures. A reinforced concrete dodecahedron, it is supported at its 60 m height by a pentagonal stem and can hold 150,000 gallons of water.
Education
Programmes in which students learn about water treatment include the ME and MEngS in Civil Engineering and the MSc in Environmental Technology . The MSc in Environmental Science and the GradCert , GradDip and MSc in Environmental Sustainability have broad coverage including engineering and hydrology as well as biodiversity and conservation. Marine and freshwater biodiversity feature in degrees offered by the School of Biology and Environmental Science , such as Zoology and Environmental Biology and water also features as a topic in the BSc in Sustainability and the MSc in Sustainable Development .
Campus Initiatives
UCD’s water consumption is reflective of a research-intensive university with over 3,900 bed spaces on campus. UCD tracks its water consumption from the UCD Water Tower on a continuous basis via automated systems and meters which deliver readings at 15-minute intervals.
There are 55 drinking water refill points publicly available in buildings throughout the Belfield campus. Their locations are included in the SDG Dashboard.
The UCD Estates water management team implements a (opens in a new window)strategy to conserve water, improve control, reliability, firefighting ability, water quality and monitoring of the existing water main network and to enhance surface water protection. The team monitors usage and conducts investigations and repairs when necessary to the campus water networks. They also identify and implement measures to reduce water consumption by the UCD community.
Programmes implemented by the team include:
- Water main rehabilitation and renewal
- Water metering rollout at both building and district level
- Development of alternative sustainable sources of water e.g. Rainwater Harvesting and Whitewater.
- Water conservation and demand management.
- Development of surface water attenuation features as a campus amenity.
- Updating of water network infrastructure drawings following ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys.
Key results of implementing the above include
- In excess of 90% of principal buildings are now metered
- Unaccounted for water (unmetered/leakage) is now less than 14% of total water used due to a combination of additional metering and the elimination of leakage within the network as a result of the watermain renewal programme.
- A large part of the water network and infrastructure has been modernised in recent years ensuring that the campus is catered for to continue to grow and develop to match the campus development plan.
- Key water based activities such as pitch irrigation, window and road cleaning and cooling are now carried out using non potable water.
- The Campus Upper Lake has been delivered as a water attenuation feature for the Sutherland School of Law and Confucius Institute for Ireland as well as future developments in this zone of the campus – avoiding the need for large underground tanks. Additionally it was designed to be biodiversity resource and campus landscape amenity space.
- The Campus Upper Lake has been delivered as a water attenuation feature for the Sutherland School of Law and Confucius Institute for Ireland as well as future developments in this zone of the campus, avoiding the need for large, underground tanks. It was also designed to be a biodiversity resource and campus landscape amenity space.
Innovation Case Study
Wastewater treatment company (opens in a new window)OxyMem was co-founded by Wayne Byrne, Professor Eoin Casey and Dr Eoin Syron in 2013 as a spin-out from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. Acquired by DuPont in 2019, OxyMem develops and produces Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) technology for the treatment and purification of municipal and industrial wastewater.