The ACTEW Applied Research and Development Program
Research and development is an essential part of any business and with the unknown impacts of climate change and the increasing scarcity of water resources, it is an essential activity for the water industry in Australia. As water is used in every aspect of life from environmental, industrial and agricultural applications to everyday washing and drinking, it is important to ensure that all consumers are efficiently receiving a safe product, in acceptable quantities and for for the purpose that it is intended.
The current ACTEW Applied Research and Development Program delivers strategic, commercial and technical outcomes to ACTEW and ActewAGL, which are vital in the decision making processes that effect water quality and delivery as well as for generating new business, products, services and interactions for the companies.
The program is derived annually, through a workshop to canvas ideas and research priorities, a two staged proposal process, budgeting and final approval. The projects for the 2010-2011 financial year are listed below with a brief description of each.
The evaluation of the effectiveness of best management practices to be applied to ACTEW catchments
Field test best management practices to assess their effectiveness in preventing contamination of waterways with nutrients, sediments and pathogens.
Completion date: June 2011
Fire, carbon dynamics and trophic structures of upland streams in the ACT
Analyse and categorise the impacts of fire on the carbon dynamics and trophic structures of upland streams in the ACT. Investigate the longer term, post fire effects on the aquatic habitats and ecology.
Completion date: June 2011
Aquatic ecosystems tolerance to total dissolved solids (TDS) in the Murrumbidgee catchment
Determine whether total dissolved solids, discharged from the ACT, are having an impact on the aquatic ecology of the Murrumbidgee River downstream of its confluence with the Molonglo River.
Completion date: June 2011
Microbial Source Tracking (MST) on the Murrumbidgee
Use developed MST methods to evaluate potential hotspots of faecal contamination in the Murrumbidgee catchment.
Completion date: June 2011
Identification of Environmental "Bloom" isolates of E. coli
Develop molecular methods to differentiate environmental E. coli isolates from anthropogenic or sewage sourced strains to eliminate potential false positive E. coli analyses.
Completion date: June 2011
A novel approach to prioritising aquatic habitat conservation at a catchment level
Develop novel molecular techniques to investigate changes in habitat diversity as an early indicator of impact of climate change on aquatic habitats and as an ongoing monitoring tool to evaluation conservation efforts.
Completion date: June 2011
PCR Techniques to detect cyanotoxigenicity
Develop rapid molecular tests for toxin production in the cyanobacteria species Mycrocystis and Anabaena.
Completion date: June 2011
Testing climatic, physiological and hydrological assumptions underpinning water yield from montane forests
An Australian Research Council industry linkage program with the University of Sydney to quantify the use of water by alpine forest growth and regrowth after fire and drought, including its impact on catchment scale water yield.
Completion date: June 2013
Climate change and water quality
A large scale, multi-partner project to investigate the impact of climate change on water quality and ecology in the ACT catchment. The outcomes to be integrated to climate and hydrological models in order to assess the ecological impacts of changes to flow and physio chemical parameters which could have a long term impact on both the extraction of water and the discharge of treated effluent in the ACT.
Completion date: June 2013
Enlarged Cotter Vegetation Inundation
Quantify and characterise the impact of inundation of in situ vegetation in the lower catchment on carbon flux of the enlarged Cotter Reservoir.
Completion date: June 2013
Cotter Dam Biodiversity
Assess the effectiveness of rehabilitated landscapes for the offsetting of areas lost in the construction of the enlarged Cotter Dam.
Completion date: June 2013
Validation of A549 cell culture for viruses
Validating trhe concentration of adenoviruses in waste and potable waters by hollow fibre ultrafiltration and polyethylene glycol precipitation and quantification by TCID50 and MPN cell culture assays and an integrated cell culture qualitification PCR.
Completion date: June 2011
Validation of Hepatitis A RT-PCR method
Validate the use of real-time RT-PCR to detect Hepatitis A virus in environmental water samples ALS.
Completion date: June 2011
Genotyping method of Giardia
Development of molecular technique to detect and genotype the pathogenic organism Giardia intestinalis.
Completion date: June 2011